The portrayal of women and in Chinese entertainment and popular media has evolved from traditional roles of utility to a central pillar of the modern pet economy , especially on social media platforms like Douyin (TikTok) Xiaohongshu Popular Social Media Content
For over a decade, Chinese state-affiliated media labeled educated, unmarried women over 27 as "leftover women" (剩女, shèngnǚ ). Popular media initially vilified these women as picky and tragic. But the internet, being decentralized, fought back using dog memes.
