The representation of women on television in the People’s Republic of China. A case study on the China Central Television Français (CCTVF) channel

Abstract

Western studies about Asian women’s image in the media have often focused on advertising or on films and television series produced in the West, for the ease of access to these productions or the ease of understanding their messages. In this context, it is necessary to investigate the representation of the image that countries such as the People’s Republic of China project about their own women to the rest of the world. Based on the broadcasts of the Chinese international channel China Central Television Français (CCTVF), in the French language, an exploratory content analysis has been carried out on 112 programs screened in two different periods, in the years 2013 and 2014. By a quantitative approach using the content analysis method, the findings show that there is a misrepresentation of women in the fields of business, politics and science.

KEYWORDS: women, gender representation, television, China, stereotypes, workplace discrimination.