Scripts and screens: A cross-cultural analysis of gendered dating advice in short-form video content on Instagram and Red

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorHuang, Jindi
dc.contributor.supervisorGarlick, Steve
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-05T21:10:47Z
dc.date.available2026-05-05T21:10:47Z
dc.date.issued2026
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Sociology
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts MA
dc.description.abstractThis thesis examines how short-form dating advice videos shape contemporary understandings of dating, relationships, and romantic behaviour on social media. Focusing on Instagram Reels and the Chinese platform Xiaohongshu (Red), the study explores how dating content creators construct and circulate knowledge about heterosexual relationships in digital environments. Using a qualitative comparative approach, the research analyzes twenty short videos by four creators across Instagram and Red. The analysis combines thematic analysis and critical discourse analysis, while drawing on Foucault’s concepts of power, knowledge, and discourse, Simon and Gagnon’s sexual script theory, and feminist perspectives. The findings identify three key themes: gender roles and dating scripts, strategy-based advice and discourse patterns, and cross-cultural comparisons. While many short videos frame the dating advice as empowering, traditional heterosexual scripts continue to shape expectations around women’s emotional labour and relational behaviour.
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduate
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/23805
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Web
dc.subjectshort-form video
dc.subjectdating advice
dc.subjectgender roles
dc.subjectcross-cultural comparison
dc.subjectdigital culture
dc.titleScripts and screens: A cross-cultural analysis of gendered dating advice in short-form video content on Instagram and Red
dc.typeThesis

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Huang_Jindi_MA_2026.pdf
Size:
541.88 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.62 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
 
University of Victoria Libraries

We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.