Gender Performativity Theory:the Construction Of Female Images In The Sketches Of The CCTV Spring Festival Gala

The CCTV Spring Festival Gala has been held for 40 consecutive years since 1983.So far there have been 234 sketches performed in this Gala which show and influence real life.Characters of these sketches also reflect social changes.In 1990,Judith Butler proposed the theory of Gender Performativity.She believes that gender is the result of social discourse construction.People obey gender norms and repeat them in gender performance,and then gender is constructed in the process of constantly quoting and repeating gender norms.Based on the Gender Performativity Theory,this study focused on 284 female characters in 234 stretches of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala,and recorded items like stories,female characters and dialogues of these sketches through Frame Theory and content analysis.By exploring the mechanism and changes of the female characters in these sketches,this study hopes to provide reference for the construction of female images in the future.On the personal level,female characters in the stretches of the Spring Festival Gala follow the principle of interpellation,quotation,and stabilization,and obey gender norms in gender performance;otherwise,they will be punished.However,as language fails to shape the identity,women can remove gender constraints and reconstruct their images through dragging.After 2000,dragged females began to appear in the stretches of the Spring Festival Gala.On the social level,gender is formed through the chain of power-dialogue-individual,and female gender is affected by different power.With the changes of discourse systems(e.g.terms of address for female),individuals have also changed in gender performance.It can be seen that female characters in the stretches of the Spring Festival Gala tend to be more masculine.For example,female characters in family have changed from perfect mothers and wives to strong and powerful women;and those in society have changed from being submissive to being calm and rational,and have more choices for their careers at the same time.