China’s shift from long-term birth restriction to the three-child policy has intensified public debate on reproduction, gendered expectations, and state intervention in private life. This study examines how young urban women in China articulate cross-field resistance to the state-led three-child policy through digital discourse and everyday practices. Drawing on critical discourse analysis of 562 posts from Sina Weibo and Douban (2021–2024) and in-depth interviews with 20 women aged 22–34, the analysis shows how online expressions and offline life strategies converge to challenge dominant pronatalist narratives. Findings reveal four interrelated dimensions of resistance: reframing family planning as a form of structural governance rather than a demographic necessity; politicizing reproductive decision-making as a site of gendered power struggle; foregrounding class-based critiques that expose the unequal distribution of reproductive and caregiving burdens; and constructing modes of female identity that move beyond the normative role of motherhood. Particular attention is given to the only child generation, who occupy a historically specific position both as beneficiaries of earlier gender-equality discourses and targets of intensified pronatalist expectations. Their simultaneous pursuit of individual development and heightened familial responsibilities amplifies the tensions embedded in contemporary reproductive governance. By conceptualizing these practices as a form of “integrated resistance”, the study demonstrates how young women negotiate limited political space to reshape reproductive subjectivity and contest state biopolitics.

This study seeks an understanding of the impact of patriarchal norms and societal expectations on the career advancement of female journalists in North Central Nigeria as well as identifying the coping strategies employed by the journalists to overcome newsroom challenges. Using the muted group theory as a framework, the research highlights how cultural values and gender roles impact career advancement for women in journalism. Data were collected through focus group discussions conducted among 70 female journalists from the six states and the Federal Capital Territory in North Central Nigeria, registered under the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ). Findings reveal that female journalists encounter discrimination, limited assignments, sexual harassment, unequal pay, and societal biases that undermine their professional competence. Despite these challenges, female journalists adopt coping strategies such as self-assertion, mentorship, acquiring additional qualifications, and leveraging support networks like NAWOJ to overcome workplace barriers. The study concludes that while female journalists have made significant strides in the media industry, systemic challenges such as newsroom discrimination, unequal pay, sexual harassment, and lack of leadership opportunities, all rooted in patriarchy persist. It recommends that media organizations implement gender-sensitive policies, promote equal opportunities, and provide robust mentorship programs to support female journalists. Moreover, it calls for cultural and political leaders to advocate for gender equality in the media industry.

This research explores the role community radio initiatives play in empowering women in Kibera and Mukuru informal settlements in Nairobi who are encountering gender-based violence (GBV). The study examines the women’s empowerment strategies employed by Pamoja FM and Ruben FM, female audience engagement with community radio, and community radio programming tailored for female audiences to address GBV. The study employed qualitative methods, promoting rigorous analysis of empowerment strategies, inclusion, and perceptions, and thus contributing new knowledge to community radio scholarship and practice. Standpoint theory, as a lens, provided insights into understanding community radio strategies for women’s empowerment and their perceptions of community radio programs aimed at empowering women. Community radio’s standpoint to empower the female audience vis-à-vis women’s perspectives to counter social discrimination against them, such as the culture of silence, enriches the audience space on community radio. The study argues that through inclusion, community radio can effectively facilitate women’s empowerment.

Otome games, or story-based romance games featuring a female protagonist and multiple carefully crafted male characters, have recently gained traction in China, attracting numerous players, particularly young women, to explore love and romance in virtual worlds. Drawing on a postfeminist perspective and employing digital ethnography and semi-structured interviews (N = 36), this study examines the storyline, character representation, and power dynamics in four Chinese otome games and female players’ engagement with them. Our findings indicate that participants derive multifaceted gratifications from playing otome games, including the fulfillment of romantic desires, emotional demands, control over romantic relationships, and escapism. However, they also demonstrate ambivalent fantasies concerning otome games. While some players embrace the dominance of male protagonists, others resist the embedded patriarchal logic, perceiving it as undermining female agency. Habitual engagement with otome games leads some participants to illusory hopes and frustrations about real-life relationships, ultimately prompting them to disengage. This research contributes to extending knowledge on otome games and female gaming, particularly in the non-Western context.

This article offers a comparative analysis of The Great Indian Kitchen (2021) and its Hindi adaptation, Mrs. (2024), two films that examine the emotional and physical toll of domestic labor and patriarchal control within Indian households. Through an exploration of everyday spaces, the kitchen, the dining table, and the bedroom, the article traces how both protagonists navigate marital expectations, silent surveillance, and cultural rituals that normalize female subordination. By situating these films within both Global North and South feminist discourses, this study highlights how cinematic storytelling critiques and also reproduces cultural norms, revealing the shifting politics of gendered labor across regional and national contexts. Thus, the article examines how feminist resistance can be portrayed through different cinematic vocabularies, offering new ways to think about gender, labor, and autonomy in contemporary Indian cinema.

Tradwife influencers reflect a curious paradox in the conservative digital sphere. While their branded aesthetic is seemingly apolitical, their ideology insists a woman’s happiness is conditional upon submission. In this paper, we ask whether tradwife discourse is different from other forms of conservative rhetoric by tracing its underlying discursive patterns and rhetorical strategies. We argue that tradwife rhetoric exemplifies reactionary speech, conceived as the denial of social injustice and the construction of utopian myth. Throughout this paper, we situate the tradwife movement within the broader history of women-led antifeminism, discuss how to make sense of tradwife rhetoric, analyze the narrative dimensions of tradwife rhetoric, and reflect on the strategic incoherence of tradwife rhetoric. We use the example of Estee Williams, a popular tradwife influencer, to illustrate the reactionary dimension of tradwife rhetoric. Ultimately, our paper exposes how the tradwife movement thrives in the liberal individualist moral universe of social media.

This article examines how the Chinese documentary series Shengmen constructs childbirth as a mediated site of power relations and maternal agency. Drawing on critical discourse analysis, the study analyzes four relational configurations, woman–family, woman–physician, woman–child, and family–physician, to reveal how maternal bodies are positioned within intersecting structures of familial authority, medical expertise, and institutional control. Rather than treating childbirth as a purely biomedical event, the documentary frames it as a socially organized process in which women’s agency is negotiated, enabled, and constrained. By foregrounding the politics of documentary realism, the study demonstrates how maternal subjectivity is made visible yet disciplined within representational conventions. This article contributes to feminist media studies and medical humanities by illuminating how childbirth becomes a contested site where gendered power and institutional authority are narratively structured in contemporary Chinese visual culture.

This study aimed to explore how online role-playing games, through avatars, may influence the process of gender expression and the mental health among transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals. These platforms demonstrate potential to be utilized as coping tools to improve mental health and therapeutic outcomes. A scoping review was conducted, examining 6,076 publications. After duplicate removal and eligibility screening focused on online RPGs with avatar customization involving TGD participants, five studies were analyzed. The evidence suggests that online gaming can be correlated to gender expression with both positive and negative potential outcomes, working as coping tools, offering a flexible environment despite the influence of hetero-cis-normative standards.

This study examined news and commentary on sexual violence published by four feminist digital media organizations (n = 116). These include Jezebel (n = 44), Ms. (n = 33), and The 19th (n = 22), which are based in the US, and the now defunct UK-based but globally focused gal-dem (n = 17). Findings indicate that feminist digital media exemplified intersectional, caring, survivor-centered journalism, which incorporated the voices and experiences of diverse publics. They also resisted some normative journalistic practices by embracing self-reflexivity and discarding both-sidesism, false neutrality, and detached reporting. This paper’s findings demonstrate the applicability of intersectionality, standpoint epistemology, and ethics of care in the everyday journalism practiced by feminist digital media in the US and the UK. I argue that feminist journalism has much to offer at a time when news organizations are grappling with multiple crises. The mainstream news media should incorporate feminist principles in their reportage of the social issues confronting society today.

Voluntary childlessness (VC) has increased in recent years, yet its representation in mainstream culture remains limited and often underexplored. Social representations are collectively constructed meanings shaped through daily interactions within a community. This study investigates how VC is represented on Instagram by analyzing the narratives of content creators who focus on this subject. Data was collected through structured interviews with 13 Instagram account owners who regularly share VC-related content. Findings indicate that the primary motivation for representing VC online are awareness-raising, peer support, community building, normalization. The process of anchoring VC involves social integration, recognition building, companionship, and provision of alternatives. Furthermore, the visual affordances of Instagram contribute to the objectification of VC, enhancing its cultural legitimacy through increased visibility.