Post-feminism and Chick Flicks in China: Subjects, Discursive Origin and New Gender Norms

Abstract

Most research on post-feminist culture has been conducted in the Western context. Within the very limited scholarship on post-feminism in China, the conception of globally transmitted and duplicable post-feminism is dominant, which is usually rationalized in the global expansion of neo-liberalism. This article, however, argues that post-feminism in China exists but encapsulates notable distinctions from its Western counterpart, in terms of the class of its subjects, female elites’ relationship with the state, and post-feminism’s entanglement with local feminisms. To emphasize the transnational perspective, I would like to coin a new term for the Chinese equivalent of post-feminism, what I will call “consumerist pseudo-feminism” (消费主义伪女权), acknowledging the buzzwords ‘consumerism’ and ‘pseudo-feminism’ that are frequently used in the Chinese media. Anchored to this reconceptualization, Chinese chick flicks, burgeoning genre films with its niche audience of middle-class young women are analyzed. Through close-reading, I would like to investigate how consumerist pseudo-feminism is represented in terms of middle-class women’s fantasies, the rhetoric of women’s empowerment, and new gender norms.