2023
a post examining the work of four popular female truck drivers to reshape the narrative of truck driving
China's trucking industry, essential to the country's economy, is largely male-dominated, with only 4% of its 30 million truck drivers being women. Despite their crucial contributions, female truck drivers remain largely overlooked. However, on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, some of these women are sharing their experiences and gaining significant followings.
Over the course of a month, I examined four popular female truck drivers–丽子 (Li Zi), 姚姚 (Yao Yao), 楠姐 (Nan Jie), and 莉萍 (Li Ping)–each with more than a million followers. Their videos not only shed light on the realities of trucking but also challenge gender norms, highlighting both empowerment and the persistent inequalities they face. Their stories illustrate how gender dynamics shape both the trucking industry and the digital platforms where they share their lives.
Besides normalizing the care work for a household that disproportionately falls on women, these female truck drivers take on added care work for the community of truck drivers they build through Douyin as well as for the rest of their fans online. The digital labor that these female truck drivers engage in when posting on Douyin adds additional pressure to an already demanding job.
Read the full post on Platypus, the blog of the Committee for the Anthropology of Science, Technology & Computing (CASTAC).