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Article

Commercialization, Algorithmic Domestication, and Digital Feminist Agency: Female Images in Mainland Chinese Cinema in the Digital Era

Ning Ma ORCID
    Received: 29 May 2026; Revised: 25 June 2026; Accepted: 27 July 2026; Published: 24 September 2026

    Abstract

    The penetration rate of the Chinese mobile Internet has surpassed 78.6%. In this digital media ecology, the film industry and social platforms have created a symbiotic system for the production of female images. Theatrical films from the mainland from 2015 to 2024 are the focus of this study, as well as their derivative circulation on social media. Three approaches are used: critical discourse analysis, narrative-visual text analysis, and semiotic analysis. Out of these two analytical sets are created: a triple model of cooperative governance of "political discipline–algorithmic domestication–cultural transcoding" and an integrated "gender representation recycling system". Three basic mechanisms are identified. First, the film industry appropriates feminist discourse, transforming it into marketable, screen symbols. In the 10 years under review, there was an increase in the percentage of commodified symbolic features from 23% to 71%. Second, platform algorithms work to systematically squeeze feminist discourse into safe, consumable signs via triple cooperative governance. An average of 22.7% of the original semantic content is retained. Third, digital feminist agency is present within gap spaces of platform architecture. But it's still limited when it comes to platform dependency. The study suggests a localized paradigm of digital aesthetic feminism resistance—symbolic disenchantment, algorithmic counter-tactics and empowerment co-construction. From a theoretical perspective, this paradigm can provide a foundation for the progress of gender ethics in the film and television industry in China and promote the development of platform algorithmic governance.

    Keywords

    References

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