Experiences of contemporary Chinese queer individuals: images of physical and online lives

• Main Author: Siya Zhou
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: China; Chinese queer studies; Communication technology and digital media studies; Culture, Gender, Sexuality; Gender, sexuality and education; Media studies; Queer; Queer digital cultures; social identities; social media
• DOI: 10.17028/rd.lboro.12746348.v1

This research aims to study the current situation of Chinese queer groups in the new media environment. As the popularity of the internet and the promotion of global queer politics grows, China's queer research is still in its infancy. Due to China's unique political and cultural atmosphere, discussions on the identity of sexual minorities have always been marginalized. This study aims to obtain real life status of the Chinese contemporary queer group through close-range online observation and in-depth interviews with the queer group. This study selected Weibo, China's largest social platform, as a virtual observation site to study how the queer group can express and socialize on such a virtual platform. The interview part of the research focuses on the differences and commonalities of queer individuals, through their own narratives, to study the current queer group's dilemma and their real-life experiences. In the past, there has been little empirical research on Chinese queer groups, and there was a dominant phenomenon of Western queer theory in Chinese queer studies. This study will combine Chinese and Western queer theory to provide empirical research for Chinese queer research as an archive of Chinese contemporary queer group images.