Feminist Roundabouts: A Critical Thematic Analysis of Chinese Gender Humor in Stand-up Comedy

Stand-up comedy has gained wide popularity in China, with gender-related performances by women comedians in shows like Rock and Roast, The King of Stand-up Comedy, and Stand-up Comedy 2024 drawing particular attention. While previous studies often view these performances as generalised representations of resistance or empowerment, this paper highlights the struggle and negotiation within feminine comedians’ humor. Using critical thematic analysis, we identify three key discursive strategies – gender trolling, playful melancholy, and self-deflation – through which women comedians negotiate male-dominated structures, shared gendered experiences, and personal identity. We thus propose the concept of ‘feminist roundabouts' to capture how women comedians navigate censorship, cultural norms, and industrial pressures through the ambiguous cultural practices of humor. This framework illuminates the complex agency embedded in localised comedic practices and offers an analytical lens to examine how women negotiate and reflect within conservative cultural and industrial contexts.