'I loved him all my life': love, duty and homosexuality in post-liberation China

This article is born out of an oral history study of 31 elderly homosexual men in four cities in China. It shows the ways in which major events of Chinese history since the birth of the People's Republic in 1949 intervene in personal lives and, in turn, how personal lives are drawn into larger...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Culture, health & sexuality health & sexuality, 2019-05, Vol.21 (5), p.591-604
Main Authors: Zhang, Youchun, Worth, Heather, Jun, Jing, McMillan, Karen, Chunyan, Su, Xiaoxing, Fu, Zhang, Yuping, Rui, Zhao, Kelly-Hanku, Angela, Jia, Cui
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asian cultural groups
China
duty
Elderly men
Families & family life
Happiness
Historical events
Homosexuality
Life events
Love
Men
Narratives
Older people
Oral history
Pain
Personal information
Well being
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article is born out of an oral history study of 31 elderly homosexual men in four cities in China. It shows the ways in which major events of Chinese history since the birth of the People's Republic in 1949 intervene in personal lives and, in turn, how personal lives are drawn into larger historical events. One of the major themes running through these life narratives is that of love and duty. The interrelationship, as well as the tensions, between duty and love is a central part of the experiences of elderly Chinese homosexual men; their lives have been beset by hardships and duty, as well as by the joys of love, and these have an impact on their health and wellbeing. The experience of one individual, Mr Peng, illustrates the important yet shifting ways in which love and duty have been twinned throughout key life events. His narrative indicates an intricate interweaving of love for family, love for Deng, his male partner of 20 years, and love for his wife, as well as duty to family and to a patron. The inseparable couplet of love and duty served as the source of hardship and pain, but also of protection and great joy.
ISSN:1369-1058
1464-5351
DOI:10.1080/13691058.2018.1501514