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A techno-feminist analysis of beauty app development in China’s high-tech industry
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Peng, Yuzhu (Altman) (2021) A techno-feminist analysis of beauty app development in China’s high-tech industry. Journal of Gender Studies, 30 (5). pp. 596-608. doi:10.1080/09589236.2021.1929091 ISSN 0958-9236.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.1929091
Abstract
Drawing on a techno-feminist approach, this article foregrounds the socio-technological process of beauty app development in China’s high-tech industry. I conducted semi-structured interviews with ten professionals, six women and four men, who previously worked at a leading Chinese high-tech company and participated in the development of a pioneer, popular beauty app – BeautyCam (Meiyan Xiangji). The research findings reveal that Chinese high-tech professionals often perceive the development of beauty apps as providing female users with a sense of empowerment and facilitating the inclusion of female professionals in the high-tech industry. Despite this feminist veneer, beauty app development poses no challenge to the status quo in Chinese society. Instead, it supports an underlying gendered logic not only by reinforcing existing standards of beauty but also in creating a niche job market that restricts female professionals’ career development. The discussion sheds light on the intersection of gender and technology in an East Asian context where neoliberal pseudo-feminism is evidently on the rise.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for Applied Linguistics | ||||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | High technology industries -- China, Beauty, Personal -- Social aspects, Beauty culture -- Social aspects, Sex role -- China | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Gender Studies | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Routledge | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 0958-9236 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | June 2021 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 30 | ||||||||
| Number: | 5 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 596-608 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1080/09589236.2021.1929091 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 23 March 2022 | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 24 March 2022 | ||||||||
| Is Part Of: | 1 |
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