Podcasting women’s pleasure: Feminism and sexuality in the sonic space of China

Abstract

This article sheds light on the landscape of sex-positive podcasts for women in mainland China, with particular emphasis on the podcast Bitch Up (2015–2022). Drawing on the sexualization of popular culture in China since the 1990s, we trace the origins of sex-positive podcasting back to late-night radio to show how the celebration of women’s sexual pleasure in podcast form builds an erotic sonic space that engages with feminist discourses of liberation through pleasure. Through historical and discourse analysis, we argue that Bitch Up sought to establish a new sexual norm that moulds the orgasmic body as female and reconfigures pleasure as an act of women’s self-determination. Refusing to conflate sexual celebration with sex education, Bitch Up discovered and nurtured an appetite for sexual pleasure and expressivity amongst Chinese women that contributes to understanding the complexities of feminism, erotics and politics in contemporary China.