When the hunter plays the hunted

Heterosexual Chinese women’s negotiations with hegemonic sexual scripts on dating apps

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7154397
AutoresShangwei Wu (0000-0002-7510-2170, Jinan University, autor correspondente), Siyi Liu (0000-0002-5879-6422, Communication University of China)
Ano2025
Volume25
Fascículo8
Páginas1975-1990
Data de publicação2025-11-17
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoFeminist Media Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1468-0777 • E-ISSN: 1471-5902
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14680777.2024.2386322
OpenAlexW4401185336
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas29

Sexual scripts are the behavioral patterns in people’s performance of sexualities. As hegemonic patriarchal sexual scripts assign submissive roles to women in heterosexual intimacy, this study explores how heterosexual women can take a proactive role in online dating with the aid of dating app affordances. Based on interviews with 18 heterosexual women living in urban China, our findings show that women can strategically craft their user profiles to not only attract certain types of men they desire, but also filter out undesirable men. They can use the topics they extract from men’s profiles to take the initiative to start conversations with men when they are willing to. By switching media platforms and/or communication modalities, they can fuel relationship development. Meanwhile, they manage sexual risks through communication with their dates about sex and precautions against unexpected situations in hook-ups. They have also created positive meanings for casual sex: They regard women’s right to engage in hook-ups as a condition for gender equality, perceive casual sexual relations as a form of meaningful social connection, and endow such relations with romantic potential. They may also hold positive attitudes toward their dating app use, as they may have derived confidence and sociability from it

Hegemony · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Scripting language · Sociology · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Psychology