Abstract
As self-images are continuously shaped and shared in the “age of visual truth,” digital photography technology gradually guides and transforms the aesthetic ideology of neoliberal female users online. From early beautification algorithms that address facial imperfections to filter effects that enhance the quality of daily life, young women online actively engaging in self-presentation through digital images signifies an acceptance of a new possibility of representational freedom. This study examines the subjectivity of young Chinese female users in online image practices, investigating whether they have cultivated a more flexible system of self-regulation through evolving strategies of self-image presentation. Although digital image technology introduces a tension between freedom and control within cyber feminism, these women actively construct emotional meta narratives in the posthuman information age, with a focus on creative autonomy. Through basic image semantics research, this paper analyzes and compares the narrative features and self-design strategies manifested in image tagging by female users. Furthermore, it explores the cognitive demands of young female users regarding digital image filters and addresses how the semantic gaps in algorithmic ally generated big data images challenge and redefine women’s self-image within the neoliberal framework.
Keywords
Digital filter art; Cyberfeminism; Design strategy; Image semantics
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.70
Citation
Diao, Y.(2025) Reconstructing Feminist Subjectivity through Digital Art Filters: A Neoliberal Perspective, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.70
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 1 - More Than Human-centered Design
Reconstructing Feminist Subjectivity through Digital Art Filters: A Neoliberal Perspective
As self-images are continuously shaped and shared in the “age of visual truth,” digital photography technology gradually guides and transforms the aesthetic ideology of neoliberal female users online. From early beautification algorithms that address facial imperfections to filter effects that enhance the quality of daily life, young women online actively engaging in self-presentation through digital images signifies an acceptance of a new possibility of representational freedom. This study examines the subjectivity of young Chinese female users in online image practices, investigating whether they have cultivated a more flexible system of self-regulation through evolving strategies of self-image presentation. Although digital image technology introduces a tension between freedom and control within cyber feminism, these women actively construct emotional meta narratives in the posthuman information age, with a focus on creative autonomy. Through basic image semantics research, this paper analyzes and compares the narrative features and self-design strategies manifested in image tagging by female users. Furthermore, it explores the cognitive demands of young female users regarding digital image filters and addresses how the semantic gaps in algorithmic ally generated big data images challenge and redefine women’s self-image within the neoliberal framework.