1. Introduction

Social media now has developed into the fifth generation: the blockchain, and the artificial intelligence media. Douyin, as a representative of the fourth generation of social media, has a huge impact on the social members’ views on the world, life, and values. With the development of the economy, more and more Chinese people have noticed the importance of individual liberation and gender equality. Analysing the influence of the Douyin platform on the Chinese female group image is a way to know the development of feminism in China and the social status of women in China. This paper will analyze the evolution of the Chinese female image, the image of Douyin female users, and the influence of the Douyin platform on the Chinese female group image in several aspects like the development of feminism in China. According to the research purpose, through the survey of literature to obtain data to understand the study of the problem comprehensively and correctly. According to different literature which has a deep connection with the topic of this thesis, so it can be seen that a comprehension conclusion about the influence of the Douyin platform on the Chinese female group image. This paper is a tool to figure out the status of Chinese women in these times and the development of feminism in China. It is of great importance to improve the status of the Chinese female group and promote the cause of gender equality in China and the world.

2. Research on the Image of Chinese Women

2.1. Traditional Image of Chinese Female Group

From the perspective of men, traditional Chinese female images can be divided into four types: filling the sky, standing on the ground, beauty, and disaster. It reflects the low status of women in society and the defects of men's personalities. They can be summarized into two categories according to the personality characteristics of men: one is the type of filling heaven and the type of standing earth, which reflects the attachment status and attachment mentality of feudal scholars; The other is the beautiful type, the disaster type of the light reflects the male inferiority complex and utilitarian consciousness[1]. In general, the traditional female image is dominated by the male who occupies the highest position in social life. Women need to be attached to men, mothering men or making men feel protective. It is not an independent and not self-strengthening image, which is very different from the modern female image, contrary to the image pursued by feminists.

2.2. Causes of the Traditional Image of Chinese Women

To sum up, the traditional image of the Chinese female group was influenced by mainstream social thought and the social nature. The status of women declined from Shang Dynasty to Zhou Dynasty. From the Shang Dynasty women could participate in political, economic, military, and other activities, to the Western Zhou Dynasty women's rights, were weakened by Zhou rites, and then to the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the ethical restraint on women became more and more strict process, we can appreciate the tragic fate of women at that time. The cause of this phenomenon can be attributed to the establishment of the patriarchal system and the system of rites and music. Xun for Women is an educational reading book specially compiled for women's education. In Song dynasty, Xun for women was influenced by the previous books which means that the Xun for women in the Song Dynasty revolved around the Confucian ethical thought of the three Cardinal Principles and Five constants. But, influenced by the Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu, the culture of female training began to vigorously advocate the concept of chastity. The effect of female teaching books on women essentially limits women in the family, isolates them from the outside world, and assumes their responsibilities and obligations in the family relationship[2]. And then, to protect the domain of the male lust, the restrictions on women were getting stronger and the status of the female group in ancient China was getting lower. In short, Women are losing ground in the evolution of Chinese traditional culture and the ever-expanding male lust for power[3].

2.3. Images of Chinese Women before the Emergence of New Media

Due to the change in semi-colonial and semi-feudal societies, the status of Chinese women has improved since the founding of the new China. Due to the lack of development of productivity and the shortage of labor due to long-term war, society needs more people to participate in labor, and women are included in the labor force in China at this time. Chairman Mao Zedong proposed that "women can hold up half the sky."The Common Programme proposed that the people's Republic of China abolish the feudal system that fetters women. Women enjoy equal rights with men in all aspects of political, economic, cultural, educational, and social life, and enjoy the freedom of marriage between men and women[4]. The later marriage law further explains the freedom of marriage, breaks the customs and habits of arranged marriages in old families, improves women's status, and protects women's rights to participate in labor. During this period, all kinds of propaganda of the Production Revolution began to juxtapose women and men. Women became less dependent on men and began to show their skills in all walks of life. It can be seen that women gradually have independent personalities and are natural persons in the real sense of society. During this period, female consciousness has been deeper into all social strata, more active awakening, and women's social status has been significantly increased[5].

3. Group Image of Douyin Female Users and Differences from Chinese Women before the Emergence of New Media

With the gradual increase of women's right to discourse, women began to get rid of the stereotype of "gentle wife and mother" or "strong woman at work" set by the patriarchal society, and the use of new media to display increasingly rich female images[6]. In Douyin's short video app, the image of women is very diverse and different. It is no longer the traditional image of a pure good wife and mother. There are various types of female images in Douyin, such as inspirational girl, emotional expert, white-collar worker, entrepreneur, programmer, happy family woman image, and so on. These female images break the traditional mass media era of women's "gentle" and "fragile" stereotype recognition, female images are more abundant. However, most of the female images shown in Douyin's short videos are young women, and being young, beautiful, and slim is still the first element of a female image. If it is obese, anchors mostly play ugly, funny or demonstrate how to cover up the figure, some anchors sell clothes mainly to show how a piece of clothing is to cover up the flesh, slimming, some old people are mainly to play elderly sitcom. Therefore, the labels "weak" and "attached to men" still exist in the image of Douyin's female users, which is still far from the female image most pursued by the feminist movement. Although Douyin has given women with different styles the opportunity to show themselves and new opportunities for self-growth in a patriarchal society, it has not yet stepped out of the limitations of inherent stereotypes. Douyin has imprinted female images in a new model[6].

4. The Influence of Douyin Platform on Chinese Female Group Image

4.1. The Influence of Douyin Platform on Chinese Female Group Image

4.1.1. Douyin Removes the Power of Discourse from the Hands of Men and Enhances the Power of Discourse for Women

In terms of gender and voice, trill practice performance for it makes the voice no longer enjoy year after year in the traditional male-dominated system centered on the elite, the broad masses of ordinary women to have the opportunity to speak for themselves, through the media to express a variety of demands, even dare to justify for the female groups, dismissed the male-dominated system society for their stigmatized, labeling and other unfair phenomena. At the same time, with the powerful content dissemination and relationship-building functions of new media, these women can find a large number of "teammates" on the same front with them. So, the new media age quite a several progress at the end of the notion of women received before some growing, to a certain extent, won the relative social respect for women, also contributed to the last in the awakening of women's gender role, in general, is changing the traditional media era women were "misunderstanding", the "ignore" or the "rejection" disadvantage[7]. Many women's short video works, express themselves, they are no longer in the traditional concept of "little woman" or "attachment" in the image of men, with topics ranging from beauty makeup, wear to work and relationships, not only the body itself become the carrier of short video narrative, but also become the most important narrative, all of these step backward ideas in the patriarchal society, The traditional position that makes men realize their "first sex" has been shaken, thus causing a lot of "big man" criticism, rebuke and even abuse. With the further development of female expression in general new media, this new gender antagonism may become more evident. More and more women use their phones to surf on the Douyin platform to know that female groups are not still the second sex in society today and say their own words to improve their status on the internet.

4.1.2. The Wide Spread of Douyin has Promoted the Spread of Social Women's Issues

Since Douyin has a huge user group in China and the video release has a low threshold, women who are involved in social events can take pictures of their events in short videos. Similarly, the solidarity of the female community and the warmth of the victims will encourage more women to spread the video. And then there will be a hit on the internet about the social women’s issues. The information processing and processing methods in the media about women's risk events, to a large extent, arouse the audience's emotional consensus by strengthening the "gender weakness" of women, to achieve the effect of infecting the audience's emotions and transmitting risk information. In the context of gender imbalance and structural transformation in Chinese society for a long time, women's social cognition has been characterized by "weak" status, "trafficking in women", "sexual violence", "marriage squeeze" and "occupational discrimination" sign closely linked together, with higher social sensitivity[8]. It's a way to let all society members focus on women's safety and women's rights, let more people know how women feel about this society and how to improve it to be a better place for women to live in, and let the victims get the compensation they deserve faster, and let more women emancipate their mind which can promote the development of women's safety cause and the progress of the feminist movement.

4.1.3. Douyin's Inherent Fragmentation and Low Barriers to Entry Provide Women with more Opportunities to Work and Show Themselves

Thanks to the development of the Internet, digital labor has come into being. Due to the fragmented nature and low threshold of digital labor, women can get more job opportunities and have flexible working hours. Take Douyin as an example, many women live stream or shoot short videos becoming internet celebrities or bloggers to earn money. Gender discrimination still exists in the workplace, and some women are still stuck at home depending on men for childcare and other reasons. Some women have hitherto stayed at home, and new social media outlets like Douyin offer them a chance to work and shine. In this way, those women no longer rely solely on men to survive but realize their social value through their digital labor on the Douyin platform.

4.2. The Evolution of the Image of Chinese Women in the Future

The identities and needs of women in the 21st century are diverse. Women in the North/West are concerned about equal labor rights and reproductive rights, while women in the South/East are more concerned about neocolonialism, capitalism, and poverty[9]. From 2011 to 2015, it is a period of rapid and fruitful development for feminist philosophy studies in China. According to the database of China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI), there are 377 articles with the keyword of feminist philosophy have been published in many journals in the period. Compared to 267articles that were published in 2006-2010, the number of periodical articles increases by 41%. This not only shows the concern and participation of Chinese scholars to study in feminist philosophy but also embodies more systematically and richly in research methodologies and subjects, as well as their practical applications[10]. Now is the time for Chinese feminism to improve and it is the time for Chinese women to be more independent and try their best to gain equal status in social life. So the image of the Chinese female group will be more diverse and independent. The image will get rid of ancient thoughts like Neo-Confucianism and traditional image. Women, will be strong and soft, masculine and feminine at the same time.

4.3. The Influence of Douyin Platform on Chinese Female Group Image and the Significance of the Development of Feminism in China

In the past two years, the country has issued policies about the development of the Internet, requiring the Internet to speed up and reduce fees, and the number of Chinese netizens has also grown steadily. In the era of fragmentation, the audience's access to information has become rich and diverse, and short videos have emerged and developed rapidly. Douyin is also a dark horse in the short video industry, reaching the peak of the short video platform in 2018. At this time, it is of profound significance to analyze the communication value of short videos in both theory and practice[11]. Therefore, by comparing the group image of Douyin female users with traditional female images, it can be seen that Douyin breaks the stereotype of women to some extent. Through the Douyin platform, more and more women are showing their differences to show the diversity of society. This is undoubted of great benefit to the development of Chinese women's careers. With the further expansion of Douyin, women's right to speak will be further improved until it is equal. Women's social issues will also get more attention, and relevant laws will be improved through public appeals Women have an independent economy through digital labor, such as live streaming on the Douyin platform, and no longer need to depend on men for survival materials. Therefore, women's status is bound to improve. The ceiling set for women in a patriarchal society will always be broken by women. As women in the boom era of new social media such as Douyin, we should take advantage of social media like Douyin's platform to promote the development of the feminist movement.

5. Conclusion

This thesis talked about the evolution of the group image of the Chinese female group and how the Douyin platform influences it. And the influence has how much impact on Chinese feminism cause. This thesis concludes that the Douyin platform has a huge impact on the group image of Chinese females which leads it to a more equal status and improves the process of individual liberation. This thesis still has some disadvantages such as it didn’t figure out how this influence was produced and how can we lead this influence to a more favorable aspect. The further step of the research should put more effort into how to stop the trend that making the liberation favoring males by playing edge ball in sexual innuendo and how to expand the influence to make it a better place for females to live in. Also, trying to figure out what the needs for feminism development and what we should do to improve this career are also important in future studies.

Acknowledgement

For this thesis, I need to thank my parents and the teachers I met in this program. My parents always stand behind me and give me all they can provide to support me in chasing my dream. The teachers I met, told me a lot about the culture of other countries and helped me to know something academic to let me know how the pattern behind real events works. Also, I need to thank the fellows I met in this program. They let me know that there are so many young girls trying their best to break the patriarchal ceiling for women. I believe that we can make a better future for our gender someday. Last but not least, saying thanks to all the women who with their own life created conditions for all women to learn and work.