A techno-feminist analysis of beauty app development in China's high-tech industry.
Drawing on a techno-feminist approach, this article foregrounds the socio-technological process of beauty app development in China's high-tech industry. I conducted semi-structured interviews with ten professionals, six women and four men, who previously worked at a leading Chinese high-tech company...
| Published in: | Journal of Gender Studies Vol. 30; no. 5; pp. 596 - 609 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Jul2021
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=151553067&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 151553067 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 09589236 JGS jtl: Journal of Gender Studies issn: 09589236 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2021 vid: 30 iid: 5 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 151553067 10.1080/09589236.2021.1929091 ppf: 596 ppct: 13 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 151553067 tig: atl: A techno-feminist analysis of beauty app development in China's high-tech industry. aug: au: Peng, Altman Yuzhu affil: Media Culture & Heritage, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK su: Feminism Businesswomen Career development Application software Computer software development sug: subj: Feminism Businesswomen Career development Software Publishers Software publishers (except video game publishers) Custom Computer Programming Services Professional and Management Development Training Vocational Rehabilitation Services Computer systems design and related services (except video game design and development) Application software Computer software development keyword: Beauty app China female professional high-tech industry techno-feminism Beauty app China female professional high-tech industry techno-feminism ab: Drawing on a techno-feminist approach, this article foregrounds the socio-technological process of beauty app development in China's high-tech industry. I conducted semi-structured interviews with ten professionals, six women and four men, who previously worked at a leading Chinese high-tech company and participated in the development of a pioneer, popular beauty app – BeautyCam (Meiyan Xiangji). The research findings reveal that Chinese high-tech professionals often perceive the development of beauty apps as providing female users with a sense of empowerment and facilitating the inclusion of female professionals in the high-tech industry. Despite this feminist veneer, beauty app development poses no challenge to the status quo in Chinese society. Instead, it supports an underlying gendered logic not only by reinforcing existing standards of beauty but also in creating a niche job market that restricts female professionals' career development. The discussion sheds light on the intersection of gender and technology in an East Asian context where neoliberal pseudo-feminism is evidently on the rise. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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