Waging war on feminism through jiaoqi discourse : Chinese tradwife influencers on Douyin

Abstract

Today, the ‘tradwife’ (traditional wife) aesthetic, often embodied by female influencers who celebrate returning to the domestic sphere, has gained popularity across Euro-American societies. Mirroring this phenomenon, a comparable jiaoqi (娇妻, meaning young, beautiful wife) aesthetic has emerged within China’s influencer economy, valorizing women’s withdrawal from public life. In this article, we draw on Teun van Dijk’s sociocognitive approach to analyse Douyin videos posted by a female influencer who has brought jiaoqi discourse to the forefront of public attention on the Chinese-language internet. We contend that jiaoqi discourse operates as a nuanced form of therapeutic governance, establishing a discursive apparatus tailored to uphold gender asymmetry in China. Commercially, the discourse enables lifestyle influencers to construct appealing personas that resonate most with heterosexual, middle-class women living in cities. Politically, it dovetails with the party-state’s post-socialist governing doctrines by assisting the depoliticization of gender issues, as well as legitimizing state-sanctioned fertility policies and beyond. Therefore, the proliferation of jiaoqi discourse should be interpreted as both a localized adaptation of a global reactionary trend and a vernacular manifestation of the state–market nexus under party-state rule.