An Investigation of the Function of Self-Media in Facilitating the Empowerment of Rural Women

Abstract

As technology advances, short videos have increasingly become a widely used form of media that has reached even the most remote and underdeveloped areas of China. This has given rural women’s groups a platform to communicate their opinions and perspectives. Due to social, economic, and technological circumstances, the issue of whether the growth of self-media has truly empowered rural women has become increasingly prominent. This phenomenon has not only garnered significant interest from scholars but has also exerted a wide-ranging influence on real-world implementations. To gain a deeper understanding of these challenges and effectively tackle them, this study examines the impact of self-media platforms on the empowerment of rural women. This will be done through the use of case studies and analysis of relevant literature. Through the examination and evaluation of the narratives provided by rural women on prominent self-media platforms like Kuaishou and TikTok, subsequent significant discoveries were obtained: Rural women have utilized self-media platforms to express themselves, sharing their daily experiences and emotions. However, their actions align with the societal expectations of gender roles, reinforcing traditional gender norms. Consequently, their expression remains passive and objective, highlighting the absence of alignment between the collective and individual empowerment of women. This further implies that the process of empowering rural women through online media is not fully achieved and may potentially have negative effects when viewed from a feminist standpoint.