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Stigmatizing Responses to Chrissy Teigen’s Pregnancy Loss Disclosure on Twitter

2021; Volume: 5; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.22720/hnmr.2021.5.2.147

2951-2522

Abbey Schneider, Kami A. Kosenko,

Media, Religion, Digital Communication

When celebrity Chrissy Teigen shared on social media that she had experienced a pregnancy loss, she received support and heavy criticism from those who questioned her decision to disclose and grieve in public. This study examined these critiques and framed these messages as constitutive of pregnancy loss stigma. A thematic analysis of 300 stigmatizing tweets revealed that these messages were marked by one or more of six features, including accusations of over-sharing, blame, questions about the photos that were shared, expressions of disgust, denunciations of the disclosure as attention-seeking behavior, and tu quoque arguments. These findings suggest the need for further research on topics such as strategic topic avoidance, grief gaslighting, and bereavement photography.