Self-presentation Of Rural Left-behind Women In Social Short Videos From The Perspective Of Goffman’s Dramaturgical Theory

With the explosive growth of the scale of short video users in China,social short videos have not only become an indispensable part of people’s daily lives,but also become an important medium for users to show themselves and shape their images.As a vulnerable group,the media image of rural left-behind women has always been constructed.With the sinking of the social short video platform market,social short video has become a voice channel and a new stage for self-presentation for left-behind women in rural China.Guided by the Goffman’s dramaturgical theory,this study focuses on the self-presentation behavior of rural left-behind women on social short video platforms,and takes the N village under the jurisdiction of Qingfeng County,Henan Province as an example,and selects rural left-behind women under the age of 55 who are active on Douyin and Kuaishou social short video platforms as research objects,and attempts to explore why and how rural left-behind women present themselves on social short video platforms and explore what this self-presentation means to them.The study found that in the context of social short video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou becoming increasingly national applications,rural left-behind women in different life states are integrating into social short videos differently.In order to meet the needs of leisure and entertainment,social communication,emotional mediation,obtaining economic benefits,and retaining good memories,rural left-behind women release original short videos to stage rich and somewhat convergent personal performances and complex emotional self-statements,creating a beautified and modified ideal self and a negative self-image under the "backstage front".The self-presentation and interaction of social short video platforms are closely linked,and the left-behind women in rural areas and the audience form a tacit understanding of the drama class,and are enthusiastic supporters of each other.Through online interaction,the network of relatives of rural left-behind women has been strengthened,interpersonal relationships have been warmed,and informal social support based on kinship and blood ties has been transferred online and further extended to interesting relationships.So far,the self-presentation process of rural left-behind women on social short video platforms has improved their group visibility and sense of self-identity,and their subjective consciousness has also begun to appear.However,it is worth noting that there may be potential risks such as self-scandalization and confusion between virtual and real in the process of online self-presentation of rural left-behind women.