Abstract Book of the 7th Global Conference on Women’s Studies
Year: 2025
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Online Chinese Feminism and Self-Gifting of Lingerie: An Intersectional Perspective
Lana Yi, Menna Jones, Fatema Kawaf, Maria Gebbels
ABSTRACT:
This study examines how Chinese women express feminism through the self-gifting of lingerie, exploring the feminist discourses that emerge in digital spaces. The rise of online feminism on Chinese social media has provided women with platforms to share personal experiences and challenge sociocultural norms, including discussions of self-gifting lingerie as a practice of self-love, self-care, and personal empowerment. Lingerie, given its invisibility, intimacy with the body, sexualisation, and alignment with Chinese beauty standards, carries symbolic meanings that extend beyond its practical function, reflecting the ambivalence of conformity and resistance to gender expectations. Based on a thematic analysis of user-generated comments on the Rednote app, the preliminary findings reveal how feminist expressions are negotiated through intersecting dimensions such as family roles, body image, and life stage. Self-gifting lingerie is framed not only as a means of self-appreciation and body affirmation but also as a subtle form of personal rebellion. Yet these expressions remain entangled with internalised shame, guilt, and body anxiety, pointing to the continued influence of cultural taboos, social stigma, and dominant beauty ideals. Overall, this study offers novel insights into how Chinese women negotiate and express everyday feminist positions through self-gifting of lingerie within a patriarchal and Confucian sociocultural context.
Keywords: body image, Confucianism, gender norms, identity negotiation, neoliberalism