Unfinished Revenge: (Un)Popular Feminism, Class Politics, and Women’s Rage in Contemporary Chinese Television

This paper examines recent Chinese televisual portrayals of women’s revenge against men who abuse their gender privileges afforded by patriarchy. Focusing on two recent women-centered Chinese dramas as case studies, I interrogate how women’s revenge against male villains is represented on television and received by audiences. I characterize both narratives as “unfinished,” insofar as structural gender injustice is rendered visible and questioned but not dismantled through women-led revenge. Online audience comments express resentment at this very incompleteness, thereby problematizing the popular feminist promise of happiness. At the same time, feminist rage against gender injustice becomes entangled with grievances at fictional characters, cast members, and other marginalized groups in reality. By critically examining targets of women’s rage on and off the screen, I suggest that feminist scholar should not treat rage as a monolithic or inherently politically productive affect, but rather be cautious about its potential appropriation for non-emancipatory ends.