Tradition, modernity, and the visual representation of “leftover women” in the English language news media in China

Abstract

This study examines the visual representations of “leftover women” (unmarried women who are 27 or above) in the English language news media in China by employing multimodal discourse analysis. The findings show that both conservative and gendered discourses are constructed by different visual resources in relation to “leftover women’s” actions, reactions, outfits, symbolic processes, and settings. Our research provides new understandings of Chinese single womanhood, which reflect the State profamily and pronatalist agenda intertwined with the pressure from tradition on the one hand, and women’s increasing awareness of individual choices, sexual freedom, and feminist values under the influence of globalisation and modernisation on the other.

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