Social Psychological Analysis of Online Gender Discourse and Gender Relations
Research Article
Open Access
CC BY

Social Psychological Analysis of Online Gender Discourse and Gender Relations

Siming Liu 1*
1 University of Toronto
*Corresponding author: Kateliu010830@gmail.com
Published on 20 July 2025
Journal Cover
LNEP Vol.109
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-281-2
ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-282-9
Download Cover

Abstract

With the rapid expansion of social media platforms, online gender discourse has become increasingly prominent in shaping contemporary gender relations, particularly in the Chinese digital context, where unique political and commercial constraints create distinctive patterns of feminist expression. This paper, through a method of literature review and case study analysis, explores how social psychological mechanisms interact with technological infrastructures to shape gender discourse production and circulation on Chinese social media platforms. The study examines two cases in particular: the Gender Watch Women's Voice experience, which serves to demonstrate counter-discourse resistance strategies, and the Mimeng phenomenon, which serves to illustrate neoliberal feminist commercialization. The conclusion of the paper suggests that digital gender discourse functions through "algorithmic-psychological feedback loops," where platform architectures amplify social psychological processes, including group polarization, social identity formation, and collective efficacy building. The research indicates that identical technological features can result in divergent outcomes across different political and commercial contexts. Paradoxically, platform censorship has been observed to strengthen feminist counter-discourses, while commercial platforms co-opt feminist language to reinforce patriarchal structures.

Keywords:

Online gender discourse, social psychology, platform governance, digital feminism

View PDF
Liu,S. (2025). Social Psychological Analysis of Online Gender Discourse and Gender Relations. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,109,17-26.

References

[1]. DataReportal. (2025). Digital around the World. DataReportal; Kepios. https: //datareportal.com/global-digital-overview

[2]. Smith, A. (2025). WTISD-25: Gender equality in digital transformation - ITU. ITU. https: //www.itu.int/hub/2025/05/wtisd-25-gender-equality-in-digital-transformation/

[3]. Tripathi, S. (2025). Gender roles: Evolution, impact and contemporary significance. In Gender sensitization and women empowerment (pp. 11-22). Elite Publishing House.

[4]. Liao, S. (2024). Unpopular feminism: Popular culture and gender politics in digital China. Communication and the Public, 20570473241268066. https: //doi.org/10.1177/20570473241268066

[5]. Im, J., Schoenebeck, S., Iriarte, M., Grill, G., Wilkinson, D., Batool, A., Alharbi, R., Funwie, A., Gankhuu, T., Gilbert, E., & Naseem, M. (2022). Women’s Perspectives on Harm and Justice after Online Harassment. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6(CSCW2), 1-23. https: //doi.org/10.1145/3555775

[6]. Schneider, N. (2022). Governable spaces: A feminist agenda for platform policy. Internet Policy Review, 11(1). https: //doi.org/10.14763/2022.1.1628

[7]. Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Penguin Books.

[8]. Hacking, I. (2000). The Social Construction of What? Harvard University Press. https: //doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1bzfp1z

[9]. Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241. https: //doi.org/10.2307/1229039

[10]. Hayat, T. (Zack), Lesser, O., & Samuel-Azran, T. (2017). Gendered discourse patterns on online social networks: A social network analysis perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 77, 132–139. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.041

[11]. Isenberg, D. J. (1986). Group polarization: A critical review and meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(6), 1141–1151. https: //doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.6.1141

[12]. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (2000). An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict. In M. J. Hatch & M. Schultz (Eds.), Organizational Identity (pp. 56–65). Oxford University PressOxford. https: //doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199269464.003.0005

[13]. Sunstein, C. R. (2009). Republic.com 2.0. Princeton University Press.

[14]. Han, L., & Liu, Y. (2024). When digital feminisms collide with nationalism: Theorizing “pink feminism” on Chinese social media. Women’s Studies International Forum, 105, 102941. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2024.102941

[15]. Wang, Q., & Ouyang, H. (2023). Counter-discourse production in social media: A feminist CDA of a Weibo post. Discourse & Communication, 17(3), 319–335. https: //doi.org/10.1177/17504813221150187

[16]. Li, L., & Wu, X. (2025). Constructing resistant gender identities on Chinese social media: A multimodal discourse analysis of Chinese male beauty vloggers’ videos on Bilibili. Discourse, Context & Media, 64, 100850. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2024.100850

[17]. Raza, H. (2023). Gendered narratives in digital spaces: The role of social media in shaping feminist discourse. Journal of Gender and Social Insight, 1(1).

[18]. Peng, A. Y. (2021). Neoliberal feminism, gender relations, and a feminized male ideal in China: A critical discourse analysis of Mimeng ’s WeChat posts. Feminist Media Studies, 21(1), 115–131. https: //doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2019.1653350

[19]. Hall, P., & Ellis, D. (2023). A systematic review of socio-technical gender bias in AI algorithms. Online Information Review, 47(7), 1264–1279. https: //doi.org/10.1108/OIR-08-2021-0452

[20]. Palacios Barea, M. A., Boeren, D., & Ferreira Goncalves, J. F. (2025). At the intersection of humanity and technology: A technofeminist intersectional critical discourse analysis of gender and race biases in the natural language processing model GPT-3. AI & SOCIETY, 40(2), 461–479. https: //doi.org/10.1007/s00146-023-01804-z

[21]. Chang, J., Ren, H., & Yang, Q. (2018). A virtual gender asylum? The social media profile picture, young Chinese women’s self-empowerment, and the emergence of a Chinese digital feminism. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 21(3), 325–340. https: //doi.org/10.1177/1367877916682085

[22]. Women’s Voice and its changing approaches to online misogyny. Feminist Media Studies, 18(4), 734–749. https: //doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447430

References

[1]. DataReportal. (2025). Digital around the World. DataReportal; Kepios. https: //datareportal.com/global-digital-overview

[2]. Smith, A. (2025). WTISD-25: Gender equality in digital transformation - ITU. ITU. https: //www.itu.int/hub/2025/05/wtisd-25-gender-equality-in-digital-transformation/

[3]. Tripathi, S. (2025). Gender roles: Evolution, impact and contemporary significance. In Gender sensitization and women empowerment (pp. 11-22). Elite Publishing House.

[4]. Liao, S. (2024). Unpopular feminism: Popular culture and gender politics in digital China. Communication and the Public, 20570473241268066. https: //doi.org/10.1177/20570473241268066

[5]. Im, J., Schoenebeck, S., Iriarte, M., Grill, G., Wilkinson, D., Batool, A., Alharbi, R., Funwie, A., Gankhuu, T., Gilbert, E., & Naseem, M. (2022). Women’s Perspectives on Harm and Justice after Online Harassment. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6(CSCW2), 1-23. https: //doi.org/10.1145/3555775

[6]. Schneider, N. (2022). Governable spaces: A feminist agenda for platform policy. Internet Policy Review, 11(1). https: //doi.org/10.14763/2022.1.1628

[7]. Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Penguin Books.

[8]. Hacking, I. (2000). The Social Construction of What? Harvard University Press. https: //doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1bzfp1z

[9]. Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241. https: //doi.org/10.2307/1229039

[10]. Hayat, T. (Zack), Lesser, O., & Samuel-Azran, T. (2017). Gendered discourse patterns on online social networks: A social network analysis perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 77, 132–139. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.041

[11]. Isenberg, D. J. (1986). Group polarization: A critical review and meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(6), 1141–1151. https: //doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.6.1141

[12]. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (2000). An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict. In M. J. Hatch & M. Schultz (Eds.), Organizational Identity (pp. 56–65). Oxford University PressOxford. https: //doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199269464.003.0005

[13]. Sunstein, C. R. (2009). Republic.com 2.0. Princeton University Press.

[14]. Han, L., & Liu, Y. (2024). When digital feminisms collide with nationalism: Theorizing “pink feminism” on Chinese social media. Women’s Studies International Forum, 105, 102941. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2024.102941

[15]. Wang, Q., & Ouyang, H. (2023). Counter-discourse production in social media: A feminist CDA of a Weibo post. Discourse & Communication, 17(3), 319–335. https: //doi.org/10.1177/17504813221150187

[16]. Li, L., & Wu, X. (2025). Constructing resistant gender identities on Chinese social media: A multimodal discourse analysis of Chinese male beauty vloggers’ videos on Bilibili. Discourse, Context & Media, 64, 100850. https: //doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2024.100850

[17]. Raza, H. (2023). Gendered narratives in digital spaces: The role of social media in shaping feminist discourse. Journal of Gender and Social Insight, 1(1).

[18]. Peng, A. Y. (2021). Neoliberal feminism, gender relations, and a feminized male ideal in China: A critical discourse analysis of Mimeng ’s WeChat posts. Feminist Media Studies, 21(1), 115–131. https: //doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2019.1653350

[19]. Hall, P., & Ellis, D. (2023). A systematic review of socio-technical gender bias in AI algorithms. Online Information Review, 47(7), 1264–1279. https: //doi.org/10.1108/OIR-08-2021-0452

[20]. Palacios Barea, M. A., Boeren, D., & Ferreira Goncalves, J. F. (2025). At the intersection of humanity and technology: A technofeminist intersectional critical discourse analysis of gender and race biases in the natural language processing model GPT-3. AI & SOCIETY, 40(2), 461–479. https: //doi.org/10.1007/s00146-023-01804-z

[21]. Chang, J., Ren, H., & Yang, Q. (2018). A virtual gender asylum? The social media profile picture, young Chinese women’s self-empowerment, and the emergence of a Chinese digital feminism. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 21(3), 325–340. https: //doi.org/10.1177/1367877916682085

[22]. Women’s Voice and its changing approaches to online misogyny. Feminist Media Studies, 18(4), 734–749. https: //doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447430

Cite this article

Liu,S. (2025). Social Psychological Analysis of Online Gender Discourse and Gender Relations. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,109,17-26.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of ICEIPI 2025 Symposium: Understanding Religious Identity in Educational Contexts

ISBN: 978-1-80590-281-2(Print) / 978-1-80590-282-9(Online)
Editor: Kurt Buhring
Conference website: https://www.iceipi.org
Conference date: 20 August 2025
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.109
ISSN: 2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:

1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.

2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.

3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).

For authors
For editors
For reviewers

Cookies are used by this site.
Copyright © 2024 EWA Publishing, its licensors, and contributors. All rights reserved, including text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.