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“Traffic Feminism”: The Platform-Mediated Reshaping of Feminist Discourse on Xiaohongshu and the Reconstruction of the Digital Gender Ecology



Author(s)

LIU Changyuan

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DOI:10.17265/1548-6591/2026.01.004

Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, China

Digital platforms have furnished feminist discourse with unprecedented dissemination efficiency in the Chinese-language internet, yet this process has simultaneously been profoundly restructured by the logic of traffic. Taking Xiaohongshu (RED) as its fieldwork site, this article proposes the concept of “traffic feminism”, referring to a discursive formation of feminism shaped by three intertwined mechanisms: algorithmic distribution, emotional resonance, and brand commercialization. The article reveals the dual effects of commercial drivers: They have played a positive role in lowering cognitive thresholds and de-naturalizing traditional gender morality, while at the same time producing structural deficits in the visibility of non-commodifiable issues. Drawing on the theoretical resources of environmental law, the article establishes the legitimacy of treating women’s opinion space as a “shared environment” and designs a three-tier guidance framework in which traffic-based rewards serve as the primary mechanism, the regulation of unlawful conduct as the auxiliary mechanism, and the channeling of “water- extractive” content as the guiding mechanism, thereby offering theoretical and practical reference points for building an inclusive and equitable digital gender ecology.

traffic feminism, Xiaohongshu, platform-mediated influence, gendered self-presentation, opinion-environment governance, women’s digital- ecology awareness

LIU Changyuan.“Traffic Feminism”: The Platform-Mediated Reshaping of Feminist Discourse on Xiaohongshu and the Reconstruction of the Digital Gender Ecology.Journal of US-China Public Administration, Jan.-Sep. 2026, Vol. 23, No. 1, 40-53