Feminization of labor: Over-representation, invisibility and vulnerability of women workers in the digital audio drama industry

This study examines the struggling lived experiences of women workers in the Chinese audio drama industry, through a mixed-methods approach involving online and on-site observations, as well as multi-round interviews with voice actors, and technical and administrative professionals from seven distinct Chinese audio drama crews. I reveal a pronounced process – the feminization of labor – within this burgeoning creative sector. The feminization of labor, understood here as a constant process of invisibility and vulnerability . Within the Chinese audio drama industry, female workers are stuck in invisibility, frequently find themselves relegated to backstage roles, and subject to an inflexible flexibility whereby work is discursively overloaded and becomes inextricably linked with life, while their male colleagues occupy more prominent and supervisory positions. Despite contributing creatively, women’s efforts often go unnoticed and are rendered invisible. Then by spotlighting the challenges faced by female voice actresses and audio drama professionals, I explicate the systemic gender biases, which result in women receiving limited opportunities, lower incomes, and reduced visibility compared to their male counterparts. I argue that the current state of gender inequality is a consequence of deeply ingrained binary gender beliefs that shape the choices of voice actors in audio dramas, along with uneven progress across various genres, including danmei , heterosexual romances, and female-female romances, stemming from the entrenched Chinese hetero-patriarchal socio-familial system and the party-state’s heteronormative censorship practices.