Neoliberal feminism with Chinese characteristics: alternative self-representations of female PhDs on RED

ABSTRACT

Recent years have witnessed heated debates in Western societies on how neoliberal discourse has ‘hijacked’ feminism, but little is discussed about neoliberal feminism in non-Western societies. This paper analyses the self-representations of an emerging digital community in China – female PhDs, with a focus on how they create and circulate alternative self-representations to challenge the biased portrayals in mainstream media. In confronting the de-sexualizing or over-sexualizing media narratives, female PhD influencers have localized the popular notions of neoliberal feminism and constructed a neoliberal feminist subject who manages to ‘have it all’ – namely, knowledge, career, family, as well as physical beauty. Besides discursive confrontations, female PhD influencers also cash in on their cultural capital to earn extra income. Despite the individualist tendency in neoliberal ideology, these female bloggers are not isolated from one another but facilitate a digital community that gathers young women with academic dreams. Believing in the slogan that ‘women help women,’ young women seek career advice and emotional support online, giving rise to the imagined ‘academic sisterhood.’ This paper argues that the Western solution of ‘collective action’ is less viable in authoritarian states and thus calls for a transnational perspective to study neoliberal feminism.

KEYWORDS:

• Neoliberal feminism
• Chinese feminism
• digital influencers
• social media
• women in higher education

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Eve Ng and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. The author also wants to thank participants of the ‘After Nora Walks Out’ conference held by the New School for Social Research in 2023.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The notion of ‘within-system (ti zhi nei 体制内)’ jobs in the Chinese context loosely refers to civil servants and employees of state-owned enterprises. It is attractive to many Chinese people for its job security and hidden benefits.

2. Equivalent to about 140 thousand US dollars.