The Overbearing CEO: Cinderella Fantasy and Chinese-style Neoliberal Femininity

In Chinese online romances and TV dramas, the “overbearing CEO” (badao zongcai) is a recurring motif. The stories follow a stereotypical formula, depicting the love between a wealthy and domineering young man, such as a successful businessman, and a girl of humble background. Although there are many variations, the essential constituents present a Cinderella-type fantasy that normalizes patronizing male protagonists and female protagonists who adapt their behaviors to deserve them. Even dramas featuring strong and ambitious women sometimes repeat this motif of romancing an even wealthier male partner. This article situates the “overbearing CEO” stereotype within the wider context of gender subjectivity and class in China today. By close readings of TV dramas, such as Boss and Me ( Shanshan laile), and drawing on data collected from online commentaries and focus group discussions, I examine the ongoing negotiations surrounding gender politics and subjectivity in television’s reproduction of social power relations. I argue that China’s gender hierarchy and ideals are closely associated with “positive energy” (zheng nengliang) moral values, which effectively serve as a new mode of governance in China. As a result, the socialist discourse on gender equality and women’s liberation has to coexist with the interests of a market that pragmatically promotes self-governing subjects. The stories promoting women’s agency as part and parcel of postsocialist modernity thereby paradoxically end up reinforcing the patriarchal gender order.