China is such an enigma in the modern world. It’s recent socio-economic shift has seen this great nation open up considerably to the West, yet it still maintains a sense of privacy unlike any other country. And as a result of this globalisation, outsiders are offered greater and greater glimpses into a culture and society so unlike any other.
Local author and academic Dr Loretta Ho’s new work, Gay and Lesbian Subculture in Urban China, aims to shed light not only on contemporary Chinese culture, but the queer culture within it. ‘It examines how Chinese same-sex identity is variously imagined; how it is transformed; and how it presents its resistances as China continues to open up to globalisation,’ Dr Ho explained. ‘It is based on a culturally sensitive framework which accommodates the diverse and sometimes paradoxical expression of same-sex identity in urban China.’
In 1997, China decriminalised sodomy. And it was only as recent as 2001 that homosexuality was officially removed from the Chinese Classification and Diagnostic Criteria of Mental Disorders as a mental illness. It’s fair to say then that the gay culture is more closeted in China than it is Australia, except on the web.
‘Since the advent of the Internet in China in the 1990s, there has been an explosion of coming out in Chinese cyberspace,’ explained Dr Ho. ‘Same-sex attracted people in China are currently using the internet as a tool to look for friends and lovers. There has been the emergence of the Chinese style of gay literature online. This literary genre is called “tongzhi wenxue†(comrade literature).
‘Sexual identity is relatively a core identity in the Australian communities. By contrast, social identity is a core identity in the Chinese communities. In particular, modern Chinese same-sex identity is expressed in a paradoxical way. It is open and decentred, but at the same time, national and conforming to state control. That is one major difference between ‘Chinese’ and ‘Australian’ same-sex identity.’
The idea for this book stemmed from Dr Ho’s PhD research and was encouraged by her then examiners, Louise Edwards and Mark Mclleland, both of whom have expertise in gender and sexuality issues in the Asia region.
‘The book is my research commitment to better understanding identity formation, gender and sexuality and sexual health,’ added Dr Ho. ‘The book represents an ongoing search of my own sense of identity and Chineseness. It is also my hope that this book will contribute a part, no matter how small it is, to the diverse same-sex communities in China.’
Gay and Lesbian Subculture in Urban China is available now through Routledge. Dr Ho will be launching her new book at The Hyde Park Hotel on Tuesday September 29 at 7pm. Felicity Haynes, John Hyde and Terri-Ann White will be officially launching the book.
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