Recently, the concept of all-female variety shows has been very popular, and it is expected to become a new trend in female variety shows in the future. The "Women's Reasoning Club", which is currently being broadcast, has the concept of "the first all-female drama-style immersive reasoning show", and the other "Pretty Battle" also played the banner of "all-female lineup war" when it was announced... It also happens that Netflix The recent all-female variety show "Call of the Siren" has gained great popularity on Douban, and has gained a high reputation of 9.6 points. Domestic audiences can't help but look forward to whether the all-female variety show of domestic entertainment can produce such a classic.

"Women's Reasoning Club" played the concept of "all women"

iQIYI's "Pretty Battle" uses "all-female lineup to start the war" as a publicity point

All-female variety shows are a step forward from the female variety shows/her variety shows we are familiar with in the past, or in other words, it is a category under the category of her variety shows. Her variety show refers to the fact that the program targets female audiences, and mainly revolves around women's emotions, work, life, social interaction, etc., expressing women's needs, presenting women's confusion, conveying women's appeals, and striving for women's resonance. Because of this, "Her Variety Show" is not necessarily dominated by female creators - it is possible that the main scriptwriters and directors of the variety show are all men, and the guests are not necessarily all women - there may be a balanced ratio of men and women. In short, as long as the guest lineup is dominated by women and produced for women, it can be called "her variety show".

All-female variety shows are based on female variety shows/her variety shows, and require the main creative team of the show to be female-dominate as much as possible to ensure a female perspective; the guest lineup is mainly female, or even all female-emphasize more female subjectivity.

Before the concept of all-female variety shows came out, all-female variety shows had already appeared in the variety show market. Whether it was the ancient "Super Girl" or "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves", the contestants were all women. However, the all-female form at that time was more the result of the program's attributes. For example, the female talent show guests were naturally women, and the main creators did not have the "all-female" creative consciousness.

A group photo of some contestants of "Super Girl"

From her variety shows to all-female variety shows, behind this change in the production trend is the rise of women's economic and consumer status, as well as the popularization of equal rights awareness. When women become the dominant audience in the variety show market, they naturally demand that the variety show market have More works that can reflect their lives and even lead their values. Therefore, female variety shows are indeed the mainstream in the variety show market today.

Of course, from her variety show to all-female variety show, there is also a development line. In the process of tracing this context, we can get a glimpse of the internal changes in female variety shows, reflect on the shortcomings of domestic female variety shows, and provide a mirror for the subsequent wave of all-female variety shows.

The Development Context of Female Variety Shows

Domestic female variety shows started very early. In 1994, "Half the Sky" broadcast by CCTV was the first talk show focusing on women's topics. The core idea of the program is "women also hold up half the sky", so that the audience can see that many women can also make great achievements in their careers. It's just that the program did not go beyond the framework of "the heroine inside" in the general direction. While being "the heroine outside", she also had to be "the heroine inside". Both "half the sky" and "virtuous housemates" are required, and the double load makes elite women even more exhausted.

The female consciousness promoted by "Super Girl", which was born in 2004, was at the forefront of that era. It breaks the male staring frame of female talent shows limited to "beauty pageants" and encourages women to pursue their dreams. The girl's image and distinctive personal temperament have also surpassed the traditional female template. She can be neutral, full of personality, and unwilling to be ordinary... This whirlwind died down with the official rectification of talent shows in 2007.

Li Yuchun, champion of "Super Girl" on the right

In 2006, "Pretty and Pretty" was the first full-studio beauty and fashion program in the mainland, leading urban white-collar women to know, understand, and present beauty; "Mamma Mia" launched in 2012 ", the original version of the program comes from South Korea, which outlines a group of ordinary and extraordinary mothers...

Generally speaking, the first stage of female variety shows is in a relatively ignorant state, and the main creators are not too conscious. "Women" is just a direction of variety shows. Without disturbing traditional gender patterns too profoundly.

In 2013, the popularity of "Where Are We Going, Dad" brought domestic entertainment variety shows into the era of outdoor reality shows, and traditional studio shows gradually withdrew from the variety show market. At first, "female" was just a subject matter of reality show, "reality show" was the focus, and "female" was more of a form. Reality shows such as "Flowers and Boys", "Sisters Over Flowers", "Here We Are" and "Girlfriend's Perfect Travel" have combined women with outdoor travel and cultural experience.

Screenshot of "Here We Are"

Afterwards, the producers represented by Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV had the keenest insight into the arrival of the era of "she economy". A series of female variety shows they produced actively and clearly highlighted the concept of "female". Variety shows in which women's "family identity" and self-awareness conflict came into being.

For example, "Mom is Superman" and "New Life Diary" where women are "mothers", "Wife's Romantic Travel", "My Young Couple" and "21 Days Before Marriage" where women are "wives", and women are "daughters". "My Girlfriend", "My Favorite Women" with women as daughter-in-law... These programs are not radical in terms of values, trying to make women achieve a balance between family identity and social identity-although this balance It is very fragile and often flows into "harmony mud".

Screenshot of "Women I Love Most"

In this stage of female variety shows, what cannot be ignored is the female talent show that echoes "Super Girl". After the foreshadowing and accumulation of "Bee Girls" and "Cheer Up Girls", "Idol Trainee" successfully detonated. The producer seized the rising trend of the domestic idol economy era, "Creation 101", "Creation Camp 2022", "Youth with You 2" Waiting for the female talent show variety show to set off wave after wave of heat. It's just that the women's talent show at this time magnifies the right to speak of fans as "producers", rather than the "subjectivity" of women who pursue dreams. me". This can also be seen from the theme song, "The more you love me, the cuter I am, the cuter I am, the cuter I am, my dream is waiting for you to wake up, this beauty will be illuminated by you, irreplaceable"... the right to speak, the right to decide After all, it is handed over to the fans.

"Produce 101" contestants entering the group night

In a word, female variety shows at this stage appeared in the stage of the gradual awakening of "her consciousness", and the main creators were more for the purpose of "catering", and the awareness, initiative and ability to lead were still insufficient.

In 2020, "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" finally brought domestic female variety shows into a new stage. The guests invited by the show are a group of 30+ female stars who have debuted for many years and some may have gradually lost their fame. They set a goal for them to form a singing and dancing group, so that these female stars can start from scratch and perform on stage. Ride the wind and waves. The sisters are very "fighting" on stage, not only the challenges brought to them by the difficult singing and dancing, but also because they must seize this opportunity to fight and fight again in such a fiercely competitive entertainment industry. Is there a possibility of turning red.

"Orchid Grass" in "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" is impressive

"Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" is a female variety show with "leading awareness", trying to answer the puzzle of the "women's development" era, that is, if a woman is currently at the bottom of her life or encounters a bottleneck in her development, how can she break through? ? "Encourage at thirty, stand at thirty, and stand at thirty" is not just a slogan, it is indeed reflected in the sweat and tears of the sisters who challenged themselves and broke through limitations.

After "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves", female variety shows that tried to innovate ushered in a blowout. For example, "Heard Her Talk" in the form of variety show, "Sisters' Tea Party" in the form of debate, "Sisters Club" in the form of sitcom, "Sister and Sister's Martial Arts", "Beach of the Band" in the form of business, and talk show in the form of "Listen to My Sister" and "Let's Talk" in the form of conversation... These programs vary in quality, but they all have a clear guiding ideology—to hit the pain points of women's existence and eliminate prejudice against women...

At this stage, there are also some female variety shows with draft genes, such as "The Dancer", "The Great Dance Club", and "Black Scared Girl", etc., showing the ability and charm of women on certain professional tracks. "I Am an Actress" is an unbearable dark history of this category.

But just as the subsequent seasons of "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" gradually became weak, the female variety show at this stage lacks a peak, and neither the production level nor the value concept surpasses the existence of "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves".

Finally, female variety shows have entered the stage of all-female variety shows. This time it is still led by Mango TV, and "Women's Reasoning Club" is a relatively veritable all-female variety show. The director is a woman, the guest is a woman, and the NPC is almost a woman. The theme of each issue also revolves around the various plights of women.

Women's Mutual Aid Presentation in the Show

Although "Women's Reasoning Club" has a good reputation, it is not a hit. The problem is not just the flaws of slow pace, simple reasoning, emotional concentration over logical deduction, etc., but also that it still stays in the presentation of women's plight, unable to give more answers on the issue of "women's development".

The Common Dilemma of Female Variety Shows

Although the number of domestic female variety shows is not small, there are not many well-known works, and there are only a handful of hits. So far, there has not been a masterpiece like "Call of the Siren". They have some general deficiencies.

First of all, the female variety shows that have appeared together over the years inevitably have the characteristics of homogeneity. The topic selection is repeated, which cannot bring new aesthetic shocks to the audience. Instead, the aesthetic fatigue is increasing day by day. , nearly exhausted. For example, Mango TV, which is good at variety shows for women's family status, has basically stopped other than "Wife's Romantic Travel" until now.

"Wife's Romantic Travel" has been broadcast to the sixth season earlier this year

Secondly, it is obvious to follow the trend, using "female" as a gimmick, but it is still an old variety show model inside. This is especially evident in a series of "female +" variety shows, where the form is greater than the content. Take "Pretty Battle" for example. At first glance, it seems to be a show of "girl power", but the format of the show is a female outdoor game variety show after all. A display of femininity with a sense of strength.

The guests are indeed in a "beautiful" state

Furthermore, it is particularly critical. Domestic female variety shows basically invite some beautiful female stars to "interpret" some common female dilemmas, and shout some correct "slogans". There is a real touch in the heart and effective guidance is formed.

Some truths are of course correct, but it is easy to say, but sometimes it is difficult for ordinary people to practice

On the one hand, the program group tries to use the plight of female stars to reflect the general plight of women, which is difficult to form a strong convincing, because the audience is well aware of the gap in living standards between ordinary people and stars, the same plight gives The impact caused by ordinary people and celebrities is completely different. It is inevitable that female celebrities use their own experiences to form emotional appeals to ordinary women.

On the other hand, the program always allows female stars to output some values based on their own experience. Due to the low cultural literacy of female stars, it is difficult to have truly touching output. In the end, it becomes female stars shouting some simple and correct slogans , such as "Who said women must be small birds", "Women have the right to say no", "Women should also be brave to pursue themselves", etc., are clear and lackluster.

At the same time, this type of variety show still has the problem of repeated guests. The guests seem to have become the humanoid boards of female slogans, and they can move wherever they are needed. For example, Zhang Yuqi appeared in both "Women's Reasoning Club" and "Pretty Battle". Before that, she also appeared in "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" and "Sister and Sister's Martial Arts".

Zhang Yuqi is a frequent guest in female variety shows

Fourth, the concept of women in variety shows is overwhelmed. Female variety shows have higher requirements for the female consciousness of the main creator. If the main creator is a masculinist, or a half-hearted feminist, when he makes a female variety show under the banner of speaking for women, he will definitely be in a certain place. These links reveal TA's true ideological tendency.

As a result, domestic female variety shows often appear "incomplete". For example, "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves", its gender awareness is already at the forefront of domestic female variety shows, but in some link settings, camera selection, and later flower characters, you can still see the conservativeness of the program group, such as repeated criticism of women's beautiful appearance Emphasis on the invisible admiration of "white young and thin" - it is often regarded as the benchmark of self-discipline. Another example is "Pretty Fighting", the fighting is not beautiful, but the female stars are always beautiful when fighting. It’s not that feminism has to make female guests feel ashamed, but that to better reflect the power of women, you have to do your best, regardless of image, rather than an attitude of “doing variety shows” beautifully.

Finally, under the indiscriminate bombardment of female variety shows over the years, the plight of women has been presented enough, and the chanting of correct slogans is also very familiar to the audience, but they generally stay at the superficial level of digging the issues. The most difficult thing about today's female variety show is that it needs to have a "leading" role, not only to tell women where the predicament is, but also to reveal the methods and paths to break through the predicament. In other words, it should be able to provide women with a methodology: How can women break through existing barriers? How should it develop?

For example, many topics of "Women's Reasoning Club" are set very carefully, and they can also directly attack women's plight, but it also stays on the "reinterpretation" of women's plight; The part where the gender label prejudice wall is posted is very hot, but "push down" is just an action in the show. In real life, a woman needs to bear a series of pressures to break through. How should she bear the pressure and how can she adjust herself?

Guests tear down walls of prejudice against women

We are not saying that these variety shows are not doing well, but that under the background that female variety shows have entered a bottleneck period, if they want to detonate the market again, they must "go a step further" and have a complete innovation in the production concept, not just stop at The production idea of "female +" - replace all the guests with women, and then play the already mature variety show routines; and dig deeper into the due issues, completely subvert the variety show model, so that the female variety show has a new look.

It is also on this level that "Call of the Siren" made many viewers shine. A complete lineup of amateurs, a survival competition mode of "no play", presents all the original qualities of women - no matter good or bad, there are no clichéd female slogans, and at the same time, the life of every amateur female guest has already been set. The female audience constitutes the "guidance"—women can live as they do.

All in all, all-female variety shows can be a good form of female variety shows. Whether this form is just a gimmick or a real subversion depends on the producer's construction of the entire variety show framework. At present, domestic female variety shows are still too dependent on mature variety show models and celebrities. If there is no courage, determination and wisdom to subvert the existing variety show model, our all-female variety show will have "The Call of the Siren" in the Year of the Monkey. class creation.