Gender Representations in the Chinese Spring Festival Eve Gala Mini-dramas

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2019 in the subject Sociology - Gender Studies, grade: 2, , language: English, abstract: This research analyzed 185 mini-dramas (Xiao Pin) in Chinese Spring Festival Eve galas (CSFEG) from the first gala in 1983 to the latest gala in 2015. These galas are held by Chinese Central Television (CCTV) and are celebrations of the Spring Festival which is the most important festival in China. Generally, these galas consist of singing, dancing, magic shows, mini-dramas (Xiao Pin), and cross-talks (Xiang Sheng). Findings in this study were based on chi-square tests and showed that female images in mini-dramas were underrepresented and stereotyped. On the one hand, gender stereotypes in mini-dramas were associated with traditional gender roles. For example, male predominance was found in occupational roles (78.2% vs. 55.6%), while females were more often represented in roles related to family (52.3% vs. 30.6%). On the other hand, gender stereotypes were related to official propaganda by limiting characters in several settings and subthemes. As a whole, such stereotyped gender roles do not reflect policies that the Chinese government implemented to promote gender equality. This study makes a unique contribution by using quantitative methods to measure gender images in mini-drams. By comparing findings with previous studies, possible reasons for gender stereotypes are discussed.