Hegemonic Masculinity in the Making: Gendered Representation and Interaction on the Chinese Short Video Platform

Short videos have become prominent digital media consumption for Chinese social media users. This article examines the gender power relation between the male vlogger Tianshui’s man who advertises his products by showcasing his male body figure on Douyin (Chinese Tik Tok), one of the largest short video apps in China, and his viewers. I raise questions regarding the degree to which his videos and the viewers’ responses challenge and/or perpetuate gender hegemony. Building on Connell’s notion of hegemonic masculinity, I argue that the masculinity representation in the videos as well as the viewers’ responses they evoke mitigate the counter-hegemonic effect that Tianshui’s man and his viewers try to present. They ultimately submit to the discursive perpetuation of hegemony. Doing so, this study contributes empirical evidence in the short video culture to the theorization of hegemonic masculinity.