Empowerment and Discipline in Rednote: A Feminist Economic Perspective
Abstract
This article explores how the behavior of women on the Rednote online platform reflects the tension between empowerment and discipline under the logic of platform capitalism. Based on feminist economics, this study highlights unpaid labor, emotional work and institutional restrictions that affect women's visibility and participation in the digital space. This article employs discourse analysis and combines media political economy to explore three dimensions: women's content production and media self-image, symbolic consumption and emotional labor embedded in community interaction, and the algorithmic logic and commercial logic of platforms. Research has found that women's participation in Rednote has expanded their expressive agency and economic engagement. But at the same time, it also recreates the gender division of labor and the commercialized femininity. The so-called empowerment is conditional - it is facilitated by market visibility rather than structural equality. Finally, the study holds that women's activities on Rednote reflect the paradox of digital femininity, where feminist discourse and capitalist incentives are intertwined, creating opportunities and constraints for women in the digital economy.
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