Negotiating Performances of “Real” Marriage in Chinese Queer Xinghun

Bibliographic Data

ID12099014
AuthorsShuzhen Huang (Department of Communication Studies, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, USA;), Huang Shu-Zhen (0000-0003-2887-6445, University of Pennsylvania, corresponding author), Daniel C Brouwer (Arizona State University)
Year2018
Volume41
Issue2
Pages140-158
Publication date2018-04-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWomen s Studies in Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0749-1409 • E-ISSN: 2152-999X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07491409.2018.1463581
OpenAlexW2897630981
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited25

This article explores how marriage is negotiated by Chinese queer subjects who face tension between the heteronormative expectations of their families and their desire to maintain a same-sex relationship. Specifically, we critically assess the cultural performances of xinghun (形婚), or contract marriage between a gay man and a lesbian woman. Focusing on the experiences of queer Chinese women, we investigate the enactment of marriage and gender dynamics in xinghun. Our analysis of personal accounts and online discourse in personal ads shows how Chinese queer subjects perform the “realness” of heteronormativity in their queer marriages. We argue that xinghun is an ambivalent cultural formation that at once reproduces heteronormativity and contests gender and sexual norms in a heteropatriarchal society

Ambivalence · Face (sociological concept · Heteronormativity · Human sexuality · Lesbian · Negotiation · Queer · Sociology · Asian Culture and Media Studies · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Gender Studies · Japanese History and Culture · Psychology · Social Psychology

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