Linguistic Performance and Feminist Resistance: Exploring Digital Identity and Gender Fluidity in the Yu-C Community

This study explores the Yu-C (language cosplay) community, a female-dominated digital subculture within the Chinese internet landscape. Yu-C, a text-based role-playing platform, enables participants to construct and perform diverse identities—including cross-gender, non-human, and fictional personas—cultivating a unique site for storytelling, social interaction, and feminist expression. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 36 female participants, supplemented by online ethnographic observations, this research examines how Yu-C facilitates identity exploration, challenges patriarchal norms, and serves as a microcosm for feminist resistance and subcultural innovation. Utilising theoretical frameworks of cyberfeminism, queer theory, and intersectionality, the study analyzes the dynamics of inclusion, exclusion, and subcultural capital within the community. Findings reveal that Yu-C offers women a space for self-expression, emotional connection, and the reimagining of traditional gender roles. At the same time, it highlights the complexities of balancing exclusivity and inclusivity. This study contributes to feminist literature by demonstrating the transformative potential of digital spaces for identity reconstruction and collective empowerment, emphasising Yu-C’s role in challenging and reconfiguring societal narratives around gender and power.