Runze Ding
Biographic Data
| ID | 4266462 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Runze Ding |
| GIVEN NAMES | Runze |
| FAMILY NAME | Ding |
| SIGNATURE | DING R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Swansea University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2284-5736 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Eating Melons, Making Scandals
When Herstory Goes Viral
This article examines the rise of herstory content on Douyin to explore how feminist resistance takes shape within China’s platform environment. Drawing on digital ethnography, we develop the concept of popular resistance, a form of platform-mediated resistance whose popularity serves both as a condition of political traction and as a mechanism of containment. To clarify this duality, we identify two dimensions: (a) popularity on the platform, dr…
Proximity-Based Gay Apps, Context Collapse, and Queer Identity Negotiation
This study explores gay male academics’ experiences using proximity-based gay dating apps on Chinese university campuses. Drawing on interviews with 41 participants, it examines how “context collapse” – the merging of distinct audiences on social media – shapes queer visibility and student engagement in culturally and politically constrained environments. Participants manage their identity by deliberately avoiding app use on campus, curating prof…
Beyond 1 and 0
The "1/0" (Top/Bottom) system has long dominated Chinese gay culture, functioning as a rigid semiotic infrastructure that organizes sexual roles through heteronormative gender norms and hegemonic masculinity. The recent emergence of "Side" - a label for men who primarily engage in non-penetrative sex - poses a disruption to this binary order. Drawing on constructivist grounded theory and in-depth interviews with 15 gay men in China who identified…
The Industrialization of Digital Entrepreneurship
With the rise of multichannel networks (MCNs), China’s influencer economy has developed along a highly industrialized trajectory. This article examines that process through the case of MCN-affiliated beauty influencers on Weibo. Drawing on a mixed-methods study of 17,629 posts from the top 100 beauty influencers, combining topic modeling with qualitative textual analysis, we identify 4 patterned domains of content production: commercial promotion…
Even More Stereotypical? A Qualitative Content Analysis of Gender Representation in Chinese Popular Song Lyrics from 1992 to 2022
Advancing community-engaged research methods
Findings suggest that an SP study provided opportunities for a novel form of engagement for the MSM community; Our data also have implications in China for designing HIV stigma interventions for MSM, engaging MSM within research studies, and tailoring sexual health services for MSM. Our findings underscore the need for more regular and ongoing engagement of the MSM community in the conduct of HIV research that affects their community
Queer media production as soft activism
The LGBT+ movements in China are increasingly in a precarious situation. Queer media spaces are being eroded as numerous digital media platforms run by LGBT+ rights-advocacy groups and individuals have been blocked over the past few years. Given this context, a liberal model of a gay rights movement, resembling those seen in the West, is unlikely to occur in China. Consequently, softer activism approaches are often employed by Chinese LGBT+ organ…
Unveiling the Contested Digital Feminism
Through a qualitative analysis of feminist posts shared by Chinese beauty influencers, this study explores the political potential and limitations of their engagements in digital feminism on Weibo. Chinese beauty influencers show the potential to shape everyday feminist discourses and promote female solidarity on Weibo. However, beauty influencers' feminist practices represent a form of contested activism, situated at the intersection of state go…
Marriage fraud” or social constraint? Reasons for understanding tongzhi and tongqi in mixed‐orientation marriages in China
This qualitative study was conducted in the context of ongoing debates on “marriage fraud” to explore the underlying social structural and individual reasons for entering mixed‐orientation marriages affecting men who have sex with men ( tongzhi in Chinese) and non‐complicit women ( tongqi ) who married tongzhi in China. Using a phenomenological approach, sixty‐eight (34 tongzhi and 34 tongqi, unpaired) semi‐structured interviews were conducted th…
HIV-Positive, Heterosexually Married Men Who Have Sex with Men in China
Business Inquiries are Welcome”
By attending to the case of queer men’s sexual use of Twitter in China, this article analyzes how mainstream platforms provide underrepresented groups with unique opportunities in the erotic economy. Drawing on in-depth interviews with fourteen queer male “sex influencers”—people who capitalize on their erotic practices on Twitter and other platforms for economic and social perks—and a three-month digital ethnography, we probe how Twitter shapes …
Good hard fuck’ made in China
In recent years, a series of locally produced gay porn films under the brand name ‘Chitu’ has gained popularity among gay men in China. As all pornography, gay and straight, is still illegal in China, this phenomenon has notable cultural and political significance. Building on my nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in Chinese gay communities and subsequent textual analysis, this article attempts to use Chitu (arguably the first gay porn series …
Business Inquiries are Welcome”
By attending to the case of queer men’s sexual use of Twitter in China, this article analyzes how mainstream platforms provide underrepresented groups with unique opportunities in the erotic economy. Drawing on in-depth interviews with fourteen queer male “sex influencers”—people who capitalize on their erotic practices on Twitter and other platforms for economic and social perks—and a three-month digital ethnography, we probe how Twitter shapes …
Unveiling the Contested Digital Feminism
Through a qualitative analysis of feminist posts shared by Chinese beauty influencers, this study explores the political potential and limitations of their engagements in digital feminism on Weibo. Chinese beauty influencers show the potential to shape everyday feminist discourses and promote female solidarity on Weibo. However, beauty influencers' feminist practices represent a form of contested activism, situated at the intersection of state go…
Marriage fraud” or social constraint? Reasons for understanding tongzhi and tongqi in mixed‐orientation marriages in China
This qualitative study was conducted in the context of ongoing debates on “marriage fraud” to explore the underlying social structural and individual reasons for entering mixed‐orientation marriages affecting men who have sex with men ( tongzhi in Chinese) and non‐complicit women ( tongqi ) who married tongzhi in China. Using a phenomenological approach, sixty‐eight (34 tongzhi and 34 tongqi, unpaired) semi‐structured interviews were conducted th…
Good hard fuck’ made in China
In recent years, a series of locally produced gay porn films under the brand name ‘Chitu’ has gained popularity among gay men in China. As all pornography, gay and straight, is still illegal in China, this phenomenon has notable cultural and political significance. Building on my nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in Chinese gay communities and subsequent textual analysis, this article attempts to use Chitu (arguably the first gay porn series …
Good hard fuck’ made in China
In recent years, a series of locally produced gay porn films under the brand name ‘Chitu’ has gained popularity among gay men in China. As all pornography, gay and straight, is still illegal in China, this phenomenon has notable cultural and political significance. Building on my nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in Chinese gay communities and subsequent textual analysis, this article attempts to use Chitu (arguably the first gay porn series …
Business Inquiries are Welcome”
By attending to the case of queer men’s sexual use of Twitter in China, this article analyzes how mainstream platforms provide underrepresented groups with unique opportunities in the erotic economy. Drawing on in-depth interviews with fourteen queer male “sex influencers”—people who capitalize on their erotic practices on Twitter and other platforms for economic and social perks—and a three-month digital ethnography, we probe how Twitter shapes …
Marriage fraud” or social constraint? Reasons for understanding tongzhi and tongqi in mixed‐orientation marriages in China
This qualitative study was conducted in the context of ongoing debates on “marriage fraud” to explore the underlying social structural and individual reasons for entering mixed‐orientation marriages affecting men who have sex with men ( tongzhi in Chinese) and non‐complicit women ( tongqi ) who married tongzhi in China. Using a phenomenological approach, sixty‐eight (34 tongzhi and 34 tongqi, unpaired) semi‐structured interviews were conducted th…
HIV-Positive, Heterosexually Married Men Who Have Sex with Men in China
Advancing community-engaged research methods
Findings suggest that an SP study provided opportunities for a novel form of engagement for the MSM community; Our data also have implications in China for designing HIV stigma interventions for MSM, engaging MSM within research studies, and tailoring sexual health services for MSM. Our findings underscore the need for more regular and ongoing engagement of the MSM community in the conduct of HIV research that affects their community
Queer media production as soft activism
The LGBT+ movements in China are increasingly in a precarious situation. Queer media spaces are being eroded as numerous digital media platforms run by LGBT+ rights-advocacy groups and individuals have been blocked over the past few years. Given this context, a liberal model of a gay rights movement, resembling those seen in the West, is unlikely to occur in China. Consequently, softer activism approaches are often employed by Chinese LGBT+ organ…
Unveiling the Contested Digital Feminism
Through a qualitative analysis of feminist posts shared by Chinese beauty influencers, this study explores the political potential and limitations of their engagements in digital feminism on Weibo. Chinese beauty influencers show the potential to shape everyday feminist discourses and promote female solidarity on Weibo. However, beauty influencers' feminist practices represent a form of contested activism, situated at the intersection of state go…
Even More Stereotypical? A Qualitative Content Analysis of Gender Representation in Chinese Popular Song Lyrics from 1992 to 2022
Eating Melons, Making Scandals
When Herstory Goes Viral
This article examines the rise of herstory content on Douyin to explore how feminist resistance takes shape within China’s platform environment. Drawing on digital ethnography, we develop the concept of popular resistance, a form of platform-mediated resistance whose popularity serves both as a condition of political traction and as a mechanism of containment. To clarify this duality, we identify two dimensions: (a) popularity on the platform, dr…
Proximity-Based Gay Apps, Context Collapse, and Queer Identity Negotiation
This study explores gay male academics’ experiences using proximity-based gay dating apps on Chinese university campuses. Drawing on interviews with 41 participants, it examines how “context collapse” – the merging of distinct audiences on social media – shapes queer visibility and student engagement in culturally and politically constrained environments. Participants manage their identity by deliberately avoiding app use on campus, curating prof…
Beyond 1 and 0
The "1/0" (Top/Bottom) system has long dominated Chinese gay culture, functioning as a rigid semiotic infrastructure that organizes sexual roles through heteronormative gender norms and hegemonic masculinity. The recent emergence of "Side" - a label for men who primarily engage in non-penetrative sex - poses a disruption to this binary order. Drawing on constructivist grounded theory and in-depth interviews with 15 gay men in China who identified…
The Industrialization of Digital Entrepreneurship
With the rise of multichannel networks (MCNs), China’s influencer economy has developed along a highly industrialized trajectory. This article examines that process through the case of MCN-affiliated beauty influencers on Weibo. Drawing on a mixed-methods study of 17,629 posts from the top 100 beauty influencers, combining topic modeling with qualitative textual analysis, we identify 4 patterned domains of content production: commercial promotion…
Sociology (6 works) · China (5 works) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Asian Culture and Media Studies (4 works) · Gender Studies (4 works) · Gender Studies (4 works) · Law (4 works) · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy (4 works) · Media studies (4 works)