Voice Metaphors in Female Magazines in the United States and China

Feminism plays a crucial role in advancing gender equality and social justice. Among others, magazines are critical in shaping public understanding of feminism. Metaphors in feminist discourse enrich expressions and shape societal attitudes. Existing studies focus on newspapers, literary works, and social media, while magazines remain underexplored. This study investigates how voice metaphors in women’s magazines from the United States and China reflect feminist ideologies utilizing Kövecses’ (2017) Multilevel View of Conceptual Metaphors. A comparative analysis of 5,280 articles (5.3 million words) from Ms. and Bust, 中国妇女 (Women of China), and 婚姻与家庭 (Marriage and Family) published between July 1st, 2023 and June 30th, 2024 was conducted. Findings reveal that voice metaphors portray protest in American magazines, framing vocal expression as individual empowerment and resistance against systemic silencing. On the other hand, voice metaphors portray harmony in Chinese magazines, prioritizing state-mediated dialogues, which symbolically link feminist discourse to nationalist projects. These divergences underscore the contrast between neoliberal individualism in American society and postfeminist discourses that stigmatize feminism as radical or self-serving in Chinese society. The findings show that metaphors in feminist discourse constructed by media practitioners are moulded by prevailing cultural and political ideologies. The findings from the cross-cultural analysis of metaphorical mappings on feminism enriches global feminist scholarship, by revealing the paradoxical role of metaphors in perpetuating and challenging patriarchal structures.