Discipline and Subjection’ in the Social Construction of Leftover Women-from the Perspective of Media-Making

Unmarried Chinese Women above the age of 27 are ranked as “leftover women”, a name given by Chinese state media to force women back home. To investigate how this term exerts discipline on single women and their consequent responses to such discipline, this thesis focuses on four TV series targeting on overage unmarried women to illustrate the various forms of social discipline imposed on them and their tendency toward psychic subjection which generates docile bodies consequently. The expected discipline imposed by this name proves that Chinese society is still trying every means to drag women back home, and the social value constructed by the state media makes the real freedom of women impossible.