Research

Overview

I hold a M.A. in Gender Studies from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a Bachelor of Social Science in Communication with a minor in Sociology from Hong Kong Baptist University.

My research interests include media representations of gender and sexuality, digital activism, transnational feminisms, and fandom cultures. I use qualitative methods and critical/culture theories in my research projects. 

Chinese Feminisms

#MeToo activism without #MeToo hashtag

My co-authored paper with Ling Han analyzes Kris Wu's rape scandal and Leehom Wang's divorce scandal to explore how Chinese digital feminist activism happens without the presence of activist-created hashtags. We delineate the latest endeavors of Chinese digital feminism and reveal its promises and pitfalls when rallying online activism without a hashtag.

This article has been published in Feminist Media Studies. 

Nationalism, disinformation and anti-feminism

I combine critical disinformation studies with postcolonial feminist critiques to understand the online circulation of anti-feminist disinformation by Chinese nationalist bloggers.

This commentary article has been published in Feminist Media Studies, as part of Commentary and Criticism Special Section: the Mixed-Up Politics of Disinformation, Anti-Feminisms, and Misogyny, guest edited by Michele White.

Feminism and nationalism in digital China

This collaborative research project with Ling Han explores the conflicts and synergy between Chinese digital feminism and cyber-nationalism. 

Part of this project has been published in Women's Studies International Forum. We conceptualize "pink feminism" as a form of Internet-based nonconfrontational feminist activism revolving around nationalism, in which “pink” connotes young female nationalists.

Part of this project will be published as a book chapter in Feminist Activism in Post-2010s Sinosphere: Identifying Issues, Sharing Knowledge, Building Movements, to be published by Bloomsbury in Dec 2024. 

Feminism and popular culture

Alternative self-representations of female PhDs on RED

I discuss neoliberal feminism in the Chinese context with a focus on the alternative self-representations of Chinese female PhDs on RED, aiming to challenge the biased portrayals of well-educated women in mainstream media. In doing so, a neoliberal feminist subject has been constructed, who manages to "have it all" – namely, knowledge, career, family, as well as physical beauty. I argue that the Western solution of "collective action" is less viable in authoritarian states and thus call for a transnational perspective to study neoliberal feminism.

This article has been published in Continuum.