Postfeminism with Chinese characteristics: the rise of the postfeminist intellectual celebrity in digital China

This article critically examines Shen Yifei as a paradigmatic case of “postfeminism with Chinese characteristics.” Drawing on discourse analysis of her digital self-representation, it situates Shen’s visibility at the intersections of China’s knowledge economy, platform capitalism, and state gender governance. As an associate professor of sociology and self-branded “knowledge-based love mentor,” Shen leverages institutional prestige to circulate depoliticized and neoliberal relationship advice; a timeline of dating, marriage, and childbearing; and “occasional feminism” constrained by state-endorsed family values. Through selective introduction of sociological concepts, her digital discourse naturalizes reproductive norms, reframes structural feminist critique as individualized life guidance, and marginalizes grassroots feminist politics. This article argues that such a commodified postfeminist sensibility not only amplifies Shen’s mass appeal but also functions as a mechanism of control, reinforcing hegemonic femininity under China’s neoliberal—authoritarian conditions. By analyzing Shen’s self-representation alongside audience response, the study contributes to critical scholarship on gender, media, and the mediated circulation of postfeminism in contemporary China.