That is so like a woman! (Tai niangmen le/太娘们了)
A reclamation effort
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/2564-2855.49Keywords:
reclamation, (trans)misogyny, feminist discourse, ChineseAbstract
This study examines the reclamation of the sexist slur niangmen (娘们), meaning “like a woman.” Although this term’s adjective form is predominantly pejorative, it appears to be undergoing reclamation, a process where slurs are reconceptualized to neutralize or subvert their discriminatory connotations. With content analysis from a critical perspective, we find that, on Xiaohongshu, a female-dominated platform, the term is predominantly used positively and is metadiscursively framed as feminist activism, whereas on Hupu, a male-dominated platform, it remains exclusively pejorative and does not provoke metadiscourse. Therefore, at this stage, reclamation appears to be limited to in-group contexts despite reclaimers' ambitions of valorizing women broadly. We also suggest that the morphological relation between niangmen and other niang-stemmed slurs points to broader (trans)misogynist ideologies, which will play an important role in the feasibility of niangmen’s full reclamation.
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