Description
This research examines the interplay between professional culture and gendered norms in Chinese journalism, focusing on the enduring phenomenon of the "trophy journalist" (花瓶记者). In collectivist contexts like China, implicit behavioural expectations operate as powerful social scripts that shape career trajectories and professional identities. Drawing on Feminist Standpoint Epistemology, field theory, and qualitative data from 47 frontline female journalists, the panel explores how gendered occupational norms are embodied, internalised, and negotiated in daily newsroom practice. Participants analyse how these norms constrain women’s access to core journalistic domains, influence affective and bodily experiences, and shape perceptions of professional competence. The panel also considers the ways in which female journalists resist, adapt to, or reproduce these norms, thereby co-constructing the gender culture of Chinese journalism. By highlighting the embodied, discursive, and structural dimensions of gendered professional life, this panel contributes to comparative discussions in gender studies, journalism, and the sociology of professions. It offers insight into how professional cultures can both reinforce and challenge gender inequalities, providing a critical lens for understanding the reproduction and transformation of gendered power relations in non-Western media contexts.