Chinese Digital Feminism Growing in a New Digital Soil: A Mixed-Method Study of the Transnational Construction of Gendered Collective Memory of Chinese Women on Instagram

As the space for discussing feminism and related issues on domestic social media platforms in China narrows, Chinese women and feminists are increasingly seeking new platforms that provide a more supportive digital environment for advancing gender justice. This article explores the growing transnational engagement of Chinese digital feminism, with a focus on its presence on the foreign-based social media platform, Instagram. Based on interviews with 12 Chinese female Instagram users and an analysis of 184 of their women-focused posts, this study employs thematic and content analysis to explore the intricate, multi-layered transnational connectivity and social representations that contribute to a distributed form of gendered collective memory. The article argues that the digital engagement of Chinese women on Instagram plays a critical role in offsetting the limitations found in domestic social media platforms. This is vital for preserving certain vanished recollections, disseminating feminist narratives, and building gendered collective memory that challenges and reframes the often-distorted and stereotypical perceptions of Chinese women in public consciousness within China’s domestic media landscape. Despite the constrained impact and visibility of their gendered collective memory on Instagram, largely due to the specific class and group these women socially represent, their transnational efforts in shaping a more equitable collective memory remain noteworthy.