The postfeminist entrepreneurial self and the platformisation of labour: A case study of yesheng female lifestyle bloggers on Xiaohongshu

Abstract

Yesheng (野生), which literally translates to ‘wild growing’, is a Chinese internet term to describe social media creators who do not have contracts with multichannel network companies and operate their accounts independently. Drawing from in-depth interviews with eight current and former yesheng female lifestyle bloggers on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小红书), this article examines gendered entrepreneurial labour in relation to the platformisation of Chinese digital networks through the case study. On the one hand, taking gender and class formation into account, I propose that yesheng female lifestyle bloggers showcase a kind of postfeminist entrepreneurialism with Chinese specificities, which is encouraged by the development of Chinese social media platforms and the wanghong economy. On the other hand, yesheng bloggers’ entrepreneurial labour is governed, regulated and commercialised by powerful social media platforms. Situated in a broader context of gender politics in contemporary China, this article demonstrates the complexities of gendered entrepreneurialism and the platformisation of labour from the perspective of feminist media studies.

The Correlation Analysis for New Media Internet Celebrity Economy in College Students’ Entrepreneurial Values and Entrepreneurial Behavior

“…Internet celebrity e-commerce economy has the characteristics of novel business model, rich and diverse marketing channels, accurate marketing positioning, strong interaction with buyers, and low cost but strong liquidity. It is in line with modern “short, flat and fast” consumption model ( Guo, 2022 ). Moreover, the maturity of Internet information technology, the development of we media and financial media, and the rapid progress of e-commerce and live broadcasting platforms provide new opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship for college students ( Che et al, 2022 ).…”

Analysis of Xiaohongshu's Internet Marketing Strategy

“…In response to rising consumer demand, e-commerce pioneer Xiaohongshu introduced the "Welfare Society" online marketplace at year's end 2014. Xiaohongshu's stock keeping units (SKUs) across all product lines increased dramatically when the company realized in the second half of 2016 that the SKUs in its "Welfare Society" segment weren't adequate to please customers [15]. In June 2018, Xiaohongshu opened the doors to the world's first offline experience store, RED HOME, in Shanghai's Jing' a Joy City.…”

“…Socialist essential concepts must be aggressively promoted, and content that is progressive, healthy, and full of "positive energy" must be disseminated. Xiaohongshu, as an Internet company, must take on the social duty of the industry, which means making immediate changes to the "algorithm-based" content push mechanism, bolstering industry self-regulation, and setting a good example for others to follow [15].…”

“…The Electronic Commerce Law of the People's Republic of China went into force on January 1, 2019. In order to hasten its commercialization process while still complying with the E-Commerce Law, Xiaohongshu will need to strengthen the supervision and management of its own platform, determine its enterprise positioning, boost its enterprise efficiency, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers [15]. And as a market, it must carefully screen its suppliers to assure customers that their purchases are genuine.…”

Against masculinised hypercorrection? Renegotiating the everydayness and ordinariness of postfeminism on Chinese TV

“…In recent years, an increasing number of studies have discussed the applicability of postfeminism in the Chinese context. While some scholars apply the framework of postfeminism in China (Guo, 2022; Liao, 2021), other scholars have discussed trends in China as being similar to postfeminism in Western cultures (Peng, 2021b; Yang, 2020). For example, Yang (2020) puts forward the term ‘consumerist pseudo feminism’ as the Chinese equivalent of postfeminism, focusing on the consumption practices and the rhetoric of freedom of choice among middle-class women (p. 2).…”