Digitally intensive mothering and unequal emotional work of Chinese mothers

Due to the unequal gender division of labour in parenting practices, intensive mothering has been further reinforced in the digital age, amplifying mothers’ otherwise implicit emotional work. Using data from 70 self-narration cases of Chinese mothers during lockdown learning, this study found that mothers experienced four kinds of negative emotions – anxiety, anger, frustration and guilt during online learning, and adopted two possible coping strategies – active self-reflection and passive intervention by others. This study foregrounded the unequal emotional work of Chinese mothers, especially the vulnerability in emotion management among mothers at lower socioeconomic levels. This study revealed how the ideological discourses constructed by intensive mothering influence Chinese mothers’ emotions in digital educational involvement and the digital inequality it may trigger.