Gendered social address in China’s convergence culture: The case of meinü (beautiful woman)

Abstract

Henry Jenkins posited that digital culture is convergence culture. This prognosis has since been intensely debated. Critiques of its romanticization of grassroots participation and objections to its neglect of the political economy of media convergence are particularly pertinent in the context of China where media is under state control despite the drastic platformization of society. The present study probes China’s convergence culture through a sociolinguistic lens. We examine patterns of convergence in the usage of a viral social address, meinü (美女, literally ‘beautiful woman’), and we survey the perception of this term across social categories. Results on usage pointed to a linguistic convergence of popular culture and state media, which fuels the viral spread of meinü in China’s digital ecosystem where interactions between stakeholders defy a simple user–censor dichotomy. Results on perception showed a generational contestation. Contrary to previous findings, older Chinese are more likely than younger Chinese to use meinü, and older women experience gratification when called meinü but younger women experience effrontery at its use. The generation gap suggests socially distributed experiences and practices among China’s digital media participants. Our study not only reveals the complexities, contradictions, and contingencies of media convergence in China, but also has theoretical and empirical implications for convergence culture.