Gender and Corruption

Abstract

From a cultural approach and a feminist perspective, this article analyzes a gendered narrative of official corruption in China through news reports of "keeping a second wife." Moreover, it engages the lived experiences and perceptions of the message receivers. Drawing upon feminist discourse analysis, interviews, and digital ethnography, this study shows that a cultural script derived from the Chinese storytelling tradition of "women are a source of trouble" serves as a contemporary narrative of corruption in the state media. Nevertheless, the media narrative has generated a vigorous audience counternarrative, which disconnects the media linkage between "second wives" and corruption.