From “Her Gaze” Performance to “Systemic Control” Cognition: A Theoretical Refutation and Player Study of the “Female-Centered” Narrative in Love and Deepspace

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-597-3_23How to use a DOI?

Keywords

tome games; Female-centered narrative; Symbolic consumption; Gaze; Parasocial relationship

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the essence of the “female-centered” narrative in the Chinese 3D otome game Love and Deepspace, analyzing how female agency is reconstructed under commercial logic. Using textual analysis and in-depth interviews, combined with theories of the “male gaze,” symbolic consumption, and parasocial interaction, the study systematically examines game mechanisms and the perceptions of 16 dedicated players. The study finds that the “female-centered” aspect is not a structural subversion but a performative packaging serving consumer structures; although technology grants players first-person viewing privileges, the viewing path remains constrained by systemic presets. While enjoying emotional companionship, most players have gradually developed a conscious awareness of systemic manipulation. Chinese otome games face a deep dilemma between responding to female desires and maintaining their commercial nature. True feminist expression requires breaking through systemic induction to reclaim subjective construction of narrative and gaze.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Shiyu Li
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/13
TI  - From “Her Gaze” Performance to “Systemic Control” Cognition: A Theoretical Refutation and Player Study of the “Female-Centered” Narrative in Love and Deepspace
BT  - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Language and Cultural Communication (ICLCC 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 202
EP  - 208
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-597-3_23
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-597-3_23
ID  - Li2026
ER  -