Doing Femininity, Doing Policing, Doing Face: Gender Performances Among Women Police Officers in China

This article explores the gender performances of women police officers in China, focusing on how they navigate femininity within the highly masculinized and culturally specific context of policing. Drawing on Schippers’s framework of hegemonic, pariah, and alternative femininities, alongside the concept of face rooted in Chinese Confucian traditions, the study analyzes interviews with women officers to examine how gender is performed across different spatial and relational contexts. Findings reveal four distinct forms of femininity: hegemonic, pariah, alternative, and an additional form termed adaptive femininity. Women officers strategically shift between these femininities to negotiate workplace expectations, uphold family roles, and preserve both personal and institutional face. While some performances reinforce the existing gender order, others—particularly those aligned with alternative and adaptive femininities—create opportunities to subtly rework traditional norms. However, many officers continue to internalize hegemonic ideals due to longstanding patriarchal values and the pressures of cultural facework. This study contributes to the literature on professional femininities and women in policing by providing a nuanced understanding of how Chinese women officers actively and passively negotiate gender in a complex socio-cultural and institutional landscape.