TY - JOUR

T1 - “‘Be Soft Like Water, Little Woman’: Cultivating Postfeminism in Postsocialist China”

AU - Iskra, Anna

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The following study examines the practices of female “softening” among followers of holistic spirituality in urban China. Such practices are conceptualized as postfeminist navigational strategies offered to women who juggle the demands of career and family life. While a growing number of academic works conceptualize postfeminism as a transnational sensibility, attempts to examine the intersections of postfeminism and postsocialism are still uncommon. This study addresses this gap by examining how in the mainland Chinese Body-Mind-Spirit milieu postfeminist discourses and the postsocialist gender order jointly shape visions of female self-transformation as a process of softening of career women, tomboys, and other types of women labelled as too tough. While these practices do not foster female power (a plausible sociopolitical influence), they cultivate feminine strength, defined as women’s ability to successfully navigate in the society within the pathways delineated by patriarchy, showcasing how postfeminist sensibility suffuses China’s postsocialist landscape.

AB - The following study examines the practices of female “softening” among followers of holistic spirituality in urban China. Such practices are conceptualized as postfeminist navigational strategies offered to women who juggle the demands of career and family life. While a growing number of academic works conceptualize postfeminism as a transnational sensibility, attempts to examine the intersections of postfeminism and postsocialism are still uncommon. This study addresses this gap by examining how in the mainland Chinese Body-Mind-Spirit milieu postfeminist discourses and the postsocialist gender order jointly shape visions of female self-transformation as a process of softening of career women, tomboys, and other types of women labelled as too tough. While these practices do not foster female power (a plausible sociopolitical influence), they cultivate feminine strength, defined as women’s ability to successfully navigate in the society within the pathways delineated by patriarchy, showcasing how postfeminist sensibility suffuses China’s postsocialist landscape.

U2 - 10.1086/723271

DO - 10.1086/723271

M3 - Journal article

VL - 48

SP - 659

EP - 682

JO - Signs

JF - Signs

SN - 0097-9740

IS - 3

ER -