Date: 15 Mar 2023 (Wed)

Time: 12:30-14:00 

Venue: Chen Kou Bun Building 123, CUHK (In person only. No online link available.) 

Speaker: Ms. ZHENG Lin (MPhil Student, Gender Studies Programme, The Chinese University of Hong Kong) 

Moderator: Prof. TAN Jia (Associate Professor, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)  

Language: Putonghua 

Abstract:  

With the development of neoliberal subjects and the rise of feminist consciousness in China, how femininity should be understood and enacted in intimate relationships has become an urgent question for Chinese women. On the one hand, femininity is constantly celebrated as a virtue in the mainstream heteronormative culture, on the other hand, it is frequently stigmatized by misogynistic gender culture; On the one hand, femininity is seen as an essential strategy for women to manage intimacy, on the other hand, it is considered responsible for objectifying and exploiting women in intimate relationships. Meanwhile, modern intimacy seems to become increasingly rational, dull, flat, unattractive, and unworthy of pursuit in women’s eyes. The reality of women’s plight in intimate relationships goes hand in hand with the growing prevalence of female-dominated intimacy fantasies. As heterosexual female-dominated intimacy fantasies about male-male romance and erotica, danmei reflects women’s desire and anxiety and explores alternatives for intimacy experimentally. The intersection and representation of masculinity and femininity in male protagonists have long been the focus of danmei studies. However, previous studies either regard the male protagonists as androgynous, gender-fluid female ideal subjects or focus on the modification of soft masculinity in male protagonists. Femininity, whose significance in intimate relationships has rarely been explored, is still mostly portrayed as a passive trait that needs to be wrapped in masculinity to be expressed without guilt. In recent years, the feminized gong(the inserter during sexual intercourse) has developed from a niche character set to a dominant genre in danmei novels. Through the analysis of ‘sajiao gong’, one of the representative character sets of the feminized gong genre, this study will examine how femininity is resignified through the cultural and discursive practices of the female online community and how the resignification attempts to respond to the current intimate relationship dilemma. 

Biography: 

Zheng Lin is a Mphil student from Gender Studies (affiliated with Cultural Studies Department) at the Chinese University of Hong kong. Her current project explores the intimacy imagination, gender narrative as well as production and consumption of commercialized original danmei novels. Her research interests include East Asian popular culture, gender and sexuality, fandom and participatory culture, and emotion and affect. 

Registration: https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13660765