Abstract
In the years following its first use in 2006, the term “leftover women” rapidly became commonplace in Chinese media. Stigma against this group persists, but the numbers are growing, and “leftover” has become a choice of life. The cultural and social changes relating to gender have taken place in part because of Internet technology, which has provided new possibilities and spaces for the global popularisation of feminism. This paper explores the dilemmas “leftover women” face through an analysis of how this issue is represented on the social media accounts of influential women public figures in China. The research design is qualitative, and case studies have been conducted with publicly available social media accounts on different platforms run by prominent female scholars, actors, and influencers to investigate: 1) how they discuss feminism and gender-related topics; and 2) how social media users respond to this content. Three methods were used to analyse the data: Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis, feminist discourse analysis, and multimodal discourse analysis. The case studies combine to show that social media accounts run by progressive female public figures have played a role in the dissemination of Chinese cyberfeminism. These prominent women have used the openness and interactivity of social media to offer progressive ideas about fertility, age, and gender roles that challenge mainstream stereotypes. However, social media still have limitations in facilitating the “leftover women” group to fight for their rights. The findings contribute a de-Westernised perspective to knowledge about global feminism by presenting Chinese women’s distinct discourses and experiences.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
LEFTOVER WOMEN, FEMINISM, SOCIAL MEDIA, INFLUENCER, MARRIAGE, FERTILITY
