Web series written by women and targeting female audiences: An exploratory analysis of narrative practices in a cross-cultural context

This study presents an exploratory analysis of narrative practices in web series authored by women and targeting female audiences, examined through an intersectional feminist framework. Focusing on creative verbalization (the verbal expression of the narrative within a series, including dialogues, monologues and narrative storytelling devices), narrative expression and audience reception, the research analyses linguistic, literary and sociocultural features of ten widely viewed women-oriented web series produced in the United States and China for target audiences aged 18–45. A multidisciplinary methodology was employed, combining quantitative linguistic analysis (including type-token ratio and metaphor usage), natural language processing techniques for assessing lexical complexity, qualitative literary and thematic analysis and a sociological survey involving 386 female respondents. The findings indicate a high degree of lexical variation and a context-dependent relationship between metaphorical density and reported emotional engagement within the analysed corpus. Series that foreground marginalized identities and complex narrative perspectives earned higher audience ratings (4.3–4.8 on a five-point scale), underscoring the interpretive relevance of culturally situated storytelling. Rather than offering prescriptive models for content creation, the study contributes to feminist media scholarship and screenwriting studies by highlighting how female-authored web series employ narrative structures, character development and dialogue strategies to negotiate identity, representation and narrative agency in digital spaces.