Abstract

As short-video platforms have become an important media space for gender exhibition and identity reconstruction, the question of how female producers may challenge gender norms through technological practices and be recoded as symbols of consumption within the platform's capitalization mechanism has attracted increasing attention. This paper utilizes a conceptualization approach, integrating a variety of theoretical perspectives, including cyberfeminism, technological mediation theory, liquid modernity, gaze theory, and platform capitalism, to offer an analytical framework for comprehending the interplay among technology, gender, and capital on the Douyin platform. We hereby propose an analytical framework for understanding the interaction between technology, gender, and capital. The article provides a comprehensive definition of five core concepts, including techno-embodied practice, liquid performativity, anti-gaze strategy, symbolic consumerization, and digital transcoding of Confucian ethics. It also constructs a mechanism of female identity reconstruction applicable to the Chinese context through a systematic literature review and theoretical deduction. It has been observed that female producers strategically maneuver within the parameters of technological empowerment and arithmetical discipline. Their behaviors, which appear to subvert conventional norms, are frequently absorbed and commodified by the platform's traffic logic, while the digital perpetuation of the Confucian ethic further delimits the boundaries of gender expression. The objective of this paper is twofold: firstly, to provide a theoretical foundation for comprehending the micro-operation of gender power and the macro-level organization of capital logic within digital platforms; and secondly, to advocate for the localized translation of global gender theories within the context of Chinese platforms.