Chapter 2 Jack’d, Douban Group, and Feizan.com: the Impact of Cyberqueer Techno-Practice on the Chinese Gay Male Experience
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Abstract
This study examines the interaction between cyberqueer techno-practice and offline gay male experiences, thereby exploring how information and communication technologies (ICTs) interact with gay male culture in contemporary China. ‘Cyberqueer techno-practice’ is used here as an umbrella term to refer to the ‘usage of new ICT for gay related purpose’. Mixed research methods, through a combination of online surveys, semi-structured interviews, and online observations, are used to capture the interconnectedness between online and offline practices of Chinese gay men. I argue that cyberqueer techno-practices play a vitally important role in Chinese gay male culture, which greatly contribute to self-representation, community-building, and erotic practices. However, these ‘achievements’ have been heavily relying on queer economic power because of a lack of civil and political space in the Chinese context. People need to be watchful of a possible neo-liberalist colonialisation of the Chinese gay male community that appears under the somewhat romanticised guise of a rainbow.