Hot Mums. Motherhood and Feminism in Post-socialist China

Abstract

The term “hot mum” (La Ma, 辣妈) has become popular in the Chinese media in the 21st century, being regarded as a “feminist” image of the modern mother, as it breaks with the stereotype of the traditional Chinese mother. Departing from a historical framework of motherhood and feminism, as well as western theories of subjectification and individualization, the article explores the discourses of hot mums in contemporary China. Based on an analysis of more than eight hundred articles in a Chinese database, this article explores the impacts of the image of the hot mum upon practices of motherhood among contemporary Chinese women. The findings show that the notion of the hot mum has been transformed into the concept of “all-around hot mums” who take care of both their families and their careers. It is argued that this process has not changed power relations between men and women, nor the roles of father and mother. Commercial and market aspects have turned hot mums from an initial expression of women’s subjectivity with particular maternal values into subjects of consumerism. The hot mum discourse is apparently contributing to the oppression rather than empowerment of Chinese women, let alone their increased sense of individuality.