Stigmatizing female success: The affective economies of leftover women in popular television dramas in China

Abstract

This article sheds light on the media representations of successful women using the theorization of affective economies. We focus on four female characters in three popular television series: Andy in Ode to Joy (2016–17), Su Mingyu in All Is Well (2019) and Luo Zijun and Tang Jing in The First Half of My Life (2017). First, we begin by using television content analysis to examine the ways women are subjected to the paradoxical cultural values that stigmatize unmarried women as shengnü (‘leftover women’) while promoting the neo-liberal ideal of duli nüxing (‘independent women’). Second, to explore the affective economies of successful women and how feelings and cultural values are circulated among the female audience, we conduct an in-depth analysis of interviews with 21 female viewers in China. Third, we employ feminist critical discourse analysis to examine how these popular television dramas reflect changing gender norms in China, where new types of relationships are now deemed acceptable. We argue that these series have represented changing gender norms that successful women can achieve happiness by securing a ‘carefree’ romantic relationship, replacing marriage as the new happy ending.