Against masculinised hypercorrection? Renegotiating the everydayness and ordinariness of postfeminism on Chinese TV

Abstract

In the past decade, there has been a significant rise in urban women-themed TV dramas in China, some of which have generated substantial public discourse on femininity. While Western women-centred TV and cinematic productions have been discussed intensively, much less attention has been paid to Chinese TV series and their audience reception. This article highlights the usefulness of studying audience response to the women-centred TV series produced in China over the past decade, especially those focusing on single women as main characters. By examining these widely-viewed TV series and their audience interpretation, this article aims to investigate the ordinariness and everydayness through which a postfeminist sensibility manifests in a non-Western context. As the research shows, these women-centred TV series reveal the diverse dimensions of urban women’s everyday lives. However, Chinese audiences express strong opposition to masculinised hypercorrection and the fetishisation of the gynandroid in such TV series. Many Chinese viewers prefer to see a realistic representation of Chinese women who have autonomy and the right to be imperfect. The findings shed light on gender-related debates in China today and contribute to discussions about the everydayness of postfeminism from an audience’s perspective.