Celebrating women’s autonomy, embracing patriarchal norms: The transnational manifestation of postfeminism in China

This paper examines the transnational manifestation of postfeminism in China through an analysis of the popular TV drama Delicious Romance. Drawing on a transnational feminist perspective, it contributes to scholarship on postfeminism in non-Western contexts by exploring how postfeminist sensibilities uniquely manifest within China’s distinct socio-political and cultural environment. The study argues that contemporary Chinese postfeminist media simultaneously celebrate women’s autonomy, economic empowerment, and consumerist pleasure while subtly reinforcing traditional patriarchal values, particularly emphasizing marriage, family, and heterosexual norms. Despite promoting women’s individualism, the drama ultimately portrays marriage as essential to women’s fulfillment, illustrating how state-market complicity in China shapes gender narratives and obscures persistent structural inequalities under the guise of personal choice. The drama consistently attributes women’s successes or failures solely to their individual efforts, masking deeper systemic gender issues. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that Delicious Romance aligns closely with official state policies promoting traditional family values in response to declining marriage and birth rates. This alignment reveals how mediated narratives reinforce state-sanctioned gender norms and patriarchal expectations, highlighting the subtle yet powerful ways Chinese media sustains patriarchal structures, thus questioning the authenticity of apparent advances in women’s autonomy and equality.