FANGYI SUN
DOI: https://doi.org/This article investigates the dynamics of women’s images within digital visual culture, focusing on how everyday aesthetics intersect with the politics of representation across social media platforms. Drawing on theories of cultural capital, feminist media studies, and digital sociology, the study analyzes women’s self-representations on Instagram, Xiaohongshu, and TikTok through a combination of visual analysis, narrative interpretation, and critical cultural theory. The findings reveal three interrelated dimensions. First, everyday aesthetics, embodied in practices such as selfies, lifestyle photography, and micro-videos, function as strategies of self-branding and the accumulation of lifestyle capital, thereby linking personal expression to broader consumerist and aspirational discourses. Second, the politics of representation is shaped by algorithmic visibility, platform governance, and cultural contexts, which reinforce gendered stereotypes, body norms, and intersectional inequalities, while also enabling spaces of contestation. Third, comparative case studies demonstrate platform-specific logics: Instagram promotes curated cosmopolitan femininity, Xiaohongshu emphasizes middle-class refinement, and TikTok fosters grassroots counter-narratives that challenge dominant norms. Together, these insights highlight the tensions between conformity and resistance in women’s digital self-representation. By situating women’s everyday images within debates on aesthetics, identity, and power, this study contributes to understanding digital visual culture as a plural and contested field, rather than a homogeneous space of representation. The research underscores the importance of critically examining both commercialized and grassroots practices to better understand the evolving landscape of gendered digital visibility.
