Tongzhi

• 沈十七

  2017-03-15
  The notion of homophobia is thus inappropriate to describe traditional Chinese attitudes toward same-sex eroticism, since the condemnation was not a categorical rejection of same-sex conduct per se, but the betrayal of family and social roles. ... it is through the encounter with the West in the mid-nineteenth century, which sparked a series of indigenous efforts to modernize China, that same-sex eroticism was gradually defined as pathological.The first Opium War (1839-1842) was a turning point in modern Chinese history, as the Chinese sense of superiority about being the Middle Kingdom was seriously undermined. ...It was in this time of immense faith that Western science would rescue China from backwardness that the concept of sexuality was first invented in China. Biological determinis...
• 沈十七

  2017-03-15
  The politics of coming out is predicated upon the prioritization of sexual identity and a homo-hetero duality. But in a society that denounces confrontational politics, and where sexuality is not segregated from social life to become a discrete identity, how should we contextualize and indigenize "coming out" and "confrontational politics"? How can Chinese tongzhi integrate their sexual identity within the cultural and family order? Can tongzhi empowerment be generated by "queering" rather than antagonizing the mainstream culture?