Discourse and the Incomplete Inversion: Gender, Power, and Emotional Labor in China’s “Fourth Love”

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_67How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Fourth Love; Discourse Analysis; Incomplete Inversion; Emotional Labor; Intimate Relationships

Abstract

This paper focuses on the construction mechanism of the “Fourth Love” intimate relationship model in the Chinese internet context. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis, it examines how spontaneous narratives in cyberspace transform fluid subjective experiences into normative knowledge objects through naming strategies and emotional grammar. The study reveals that while this discourse superficially inverts traditional heterosexual power relations by constructing gender scripts of male vulnerability and female management roles, it fails to simultaneously dissolve structural inequalities. Instead, power asymmetry is recoded as emotional labor under the guise of “care” and “intimacy,” making the “dominant” position actually bear more responsibility for maintaining relationships. The proposed concept of “incomplete inversion” breaks through the simplistic understanding of gender role substitution in previous studies, pointing out the dialectical tension between subversion and continuation in discourse practice. This research introduces Foucauldian power analysis into the field of digital intimate relationships, providing a theoretical perspective beyond the binary framework of resistance/compliance for observing the transformation of contemporary gender norms. It also deepens the understanding of the political economy implications of emotional labor, possessing significant academic value for understanding gender politics in online subcultures.

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.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Ziyan Wang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
TI  - Discourse and the Incomplete Inversion: Gender, Power, and Emotional Labor in China’s “Fourth Love”
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 651
EP  - 661
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_67
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_67
ID  - Wang2026
ER  -