Neoliberalism and Media Consumption: Reflection of Female Viewers on Gender and Social Inequalities Represented in Chinese TV Shows

Under the influence of social norms and individual perspectives, feminism in China has undergone significant transformations. In the context of globalization, the rise of neoliberal consciousness and postfeminism has profoundly altered how female audiences engage with and interpret television dramas. A key example of this shift is the television series Ode to Joy, a drama centered on the professional lives of urban women, which has aired for five seasons and played a critical role in the study of this evolution. The portrayal of female characters in the show and the responses of female viewers to these characters have been particularly impactful. This paper builds upon a theoretical framework combining Adorno's Culture Industry, Baudrillard's Hyper-reality, Foucault's Biopower, Rofel's Subjectivity, and Hall's Encoding-Decoding theories. The study focuses on women aged 18-35, employing thematic analysis and semi-structured interviews to explore their subjectivity and interpretation of television shows like Ode to Joy. This research examines how audiences merge the content and form of these shows with mainstream ideologies to promote discussions on gender issues and guide their own behaviors. The paper investigates how Chinese women interpret realist television portrayals in relation to their own experiences of career, family background, gender roles, and female autonomy. The contribution of this study lies in its exploration of the transformation of feminist thought in China within the context of globalization, and how the topic of gender structures is deconstructed, further exacerbating gender and social inequalities. On one hand, this research helps to understand how different feminist ideologies shape female audiences' reflections on media content. On the other hand, the findings of this study provide a solid foundation for researchers interested in the broader fields of media consumption, online gender discourse, and cultural values.