'A TANGLE OF PEOPLE MESSING AROUND TOGETHER': Taiwanese variety television and the mediation of women's affective labour

Abstract

This paper explores how Taiwanese women's variety television shows mediate social expectations about women's work, both waged and unwaged. In particular, I argue that the 2011 women's variety programme Shounü Buman Zu {left double angle bracket}(chinese source){right double angle bracket}, lit. unsatisfied mature-women tribe) negotiates both the feminization of everyday domestic risk and expectations surrounding the embodied practices of women's affective labour. I propose that the programme's mediation of these issues takes place at three levels: thematic, performed and formal. First, offering 'expert' advice on managing the opportunities and risks associated with women's everyday lives in ..