Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dilemmas of Chinese Lesbian Youths in Contemporary Mainland China

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Sexuality & Culture Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Obliviousness to co-existing heterosexuality and homosexuality undermines tolerance of same-sex attraction in traditional Chinese culture. With the influence of conservative Abrahamic religious values since the 19th century, homoeroticism became unacceptable in China. This qualitative research was carried out from March to September 2015 to explore the lived experiences of four millennial lesbians in communist China, regarding their views of and predicaments stemming from sexual minorities. The semi-structured, in-depth interviews carried out through communication technology, were transcribed and then analysed through interpretative phenomenological analysis, with the aid of a computerised qualitative data analysis software package. Member-checking, for triangulation, was used to enhance the rigour of this study. The findings reveal parental attitudes towards these youngsters, their redefinition of marriage, and their being doubly marginalised. They offer diverse vistas from Chinese lesbian youths to understand the challenges facing this victimised group in the context of East–West and traditional-contemporary ambiguities, in which this stigmatised population is struggling for sexual autonomy through this dilemma. They potentially inspire social activists to advance further for the benefits of LGBs through rejuvenating the inclusiveness of Chinese sexual culture.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aboul-Enein, B. H. (2015). Marks of ambivalence of homosexuality between Arab literary works and Islamic jurisprudence: A brief historiographical commentary. Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 44(1), 9–11. doi:10.1007/s10508-014-0438-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahern, E. M. (1978). The power and pollution of Chinese women. In A. P. Wolf (Ed.), Studies in Chinese society (pp. 268–290). California: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ali, S., & Barden, S. (2015). Considering the cycle of coming out: Sexual minority identity development. The Professional Counsellor, 5(4), 501–515. doi:10.15241/sa.5.4.501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arbeit, M. R., Fisher, C. B., Macapagal, K., & Mustanski, B. (2016). Bisexual invisibility and the sexual health needs of adolescent girls. LGBT Health, 3(5), 342–349. doi:10.1089/lgbt.2016.0035.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayoub, P. M., & Garretson, J. (2015). Getting the essage out: Media context and global changes in attitudes towards homosexuality. Paper presented at the Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, April 3, 2015.

  • Bampton, R., & Cowton, C. J. (2002). The e-interview. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 3(2), 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berrong, R. M. (2003). In love with a handsome sailor: The emergence of gay identity and the novels of Pierre Loti. Toronto: University of Toronto Press Incorporated.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bilić, B., & Stubbs, P. (2016). Beyond EUtopia promises and disillusions: A conclusion. In B. Bilić (Ed.), LGBT activism and Europeanisation in the post-Yugoslav space: On the rainbow to Europe (pp. 231–248). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Blair, S. L., & Madigan, T. J. (2016). Dating attitudes and expectations among young Chinese adults: An examination of gender differences. The Journal of Chinese Sociology, 3(12), 1–19. doi:10.1186/s40711-016-0034-1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blais, M., Gervais, J., & Hébert, M. (2014). Internalised homophobia as a partial mediator between homophobic bullying and self-esteem among youths of sexual minorities in Quebec (Canada). Ciência and Saúde Coletiva, 19(3), 727–735. doi:10.1590/1413-81232014193.16082013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bossler, B. (2008). China: Imperial period. In B. G. Smith (Ed.), The Oxford encyclopaedia of women in world history (Vol. 1, pp. 352–361). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burki, T. (2017). Health and rights challenges for China’s LGBT community. The Lancet, 389, 1286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cabezas, M., & Schweiger, G. (2016). Girlhood Studies. Girlhood Studies, 9(3), 37–53. doi:10.3167/ghs.2016.090304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao, J., & Cao, M. (2009). Case study of lesbian’s health hotline in peripheral Chinese city. Observatorio Journal, 10, 273–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cass, V. C. (1979). Homosexual identity formation: A theoretical model. Journal of Homosexuality, 4(3), 219–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y. 陳. (2009). Lesbian women’s marriages and families: A challenge to the traditional marriage system 女同性戀者的婚姻和家庭給傳統婚姻制度帶來的挑戰. Society 社會, 29(4), 107–129, 226.

  • Chen, Y.-C. (2014). Introduction. In Y.-C. Chen (Ed.), New modern Chinese women and gender politics: The centennial of the end of the Qing Dynasty (pp. 1–24). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, Y., & Chen, Y. (2006). Lesbians in China’s mainland: A brief introduction. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 10(3–4), 113–125. doi:10.1300/J155v10n03_08.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, F. K. (2016). I want to come forward: Voices from Chinese tongqi. Cogent Social Sciences, 2(1158343), 1–8. doi:10.1080/23311886.2016.1158343.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, F. K. (2017). Using email and skype interviews with marginalised participants. In B. Flett, M. Gill, & C. Schorfheide (Eds.), SAGE research methods case, Part 2: Health (pp. 1–9). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chi, X., & Hawk, S. T. (2016). Attitudes towards same-sex attraction and behaviour among Chinese university students: Tendencies, correlates, and gender differences. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(1592), 1–9. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01592.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chia, M., & Winn, M. (1984). Taoist secrets of love: Cultivating male sexual energy. Santa Fe: Aurora Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiang, H. (2014). Queering China: A new synthesis. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbain and Gay Studies, 20(3), 353–377. doi:10.1215/10642684-2422701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chou, W.-S. (2001). Homosexuality and the cultural politics of tongzhi in Chinese societies. Journal of Homosexuality, 40(3–4), 27–46. doi:10.1300/J082v40n03_03.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, G. C. (2004). Economic reform and growth in China. Annals of Economics and Finance, 5, 127–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chow, P. K.-Y., & Cheng, S.-T. (2010). Shame, internalised heterosexism, lesbian identity, and coming out to others: A comparative study of lesbians in mainland China and Hong Kong. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 57(1), 92–104. doi:10.1037/a0017930.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cristini, R. (2005). Homosexuality and tongzhi culture. In E. L. Davis (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of contemporary Chinese culture (pp. 352–354). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davin, D. (2008). China: Modern period. In B. G. Smith (Ed.), The Oxford encyclopaedia of women in world history (Vol. 1, pp. 361–369). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, S. (1996). Women’s sexual autonomy: Universality, sexual rights, and sexual orientation at the Beijing conference. Canadian Woman Studies, 16(3), 46–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dikötter, F. (1995). Sex, culture and modernity in China: Medical science and the construction of sexual identities in the early republican period. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorros, S. G. (1975). The theoretical basis of sexual equality and marriage reform in China. Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspective on Asia, 13(2), 18–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorros, S. G. (1978). The status of women in the People’s Republic of China. Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspective on Asia, 16, 1–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drescher, J. (2015). Out of DSM: Depathologising homosexuality. Behavioural Sciences, 5(4), 565–575. doi:10.3390/bs5040565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duffy, J. C. (2001). Gay-related themes in the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde. Victorian Literature and Culture, 29(2), 327–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dykes, B. (2000). China. In T. F. Murphy (Ed.), Reader’s guide to lesbian and gay studies (pp. 132–133). Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, D. (1999). Introduction. In D. W. Foster (Ed.), Spanish eriters on gay and lesbian themes: A bio-critical sourcebook (pp. 1–22). Westport: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engebretsen, E. L. (2009). Intimate practices, conjugal ideals: Affective ties and relationship strategies among lala (lesbian) women in contemporary Beijing. Sexuality Research and Social Policy: Journal of NSRC, 6(3), 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang, C.-H., & Zhang, X.-N. (2013). Female romance in ancient and modern Chinese society. Chaoyang Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(2), 1–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farhan, H. M., & Shakir, A. S. (2014). The prevalence of mental disorders among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) in Baghdad. American Journal of BioMedicine, 2(12), 1219–1228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferdoush, A. (2016). Revisiting Cass’s model of homosexual identity development in context of Bangladesh society. SAGE Open, 6, 1–8. doi:10.1177/2158244016651913.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferentinos, S. (2015). Interpreting LGBT history at museums and historic sites. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fish, J. (2010). Conceptualising social exclusion and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people: The implications for promoting equity in nursing policy and practice. Journal of Research in Nursing, 15(4), 303–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredriksen-Goldsen, K. I., Simoni, J. M., Kim, H.-J., Lehavot, K., Walters, K. L., Yang, J., et al. (2014). The health equity promotion model: Reconceptualisation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health disparities. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(6), 653–663. doi:10.1037/ort0000030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerkin, K. (2009). The one-child policy, gay rights, and social reorganisation in China. Human rights and human welfare: An online journal of academic literature review, topic research digest, pp. 57–69 (Human Rights in China).

  • Gordon, A. R., & Meyer, I. H. (2007). Gender nonconformity as a target of prejudice, discrimination, and violence against LGB individuals. Journal of LGBT Health Research, 3(3), 55–71. doi:10.1080/15574090802093562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gridley, S. J., & Kothary, V. (2016). Immigrant and international LGBT health. In K. L. Eckstrand & J. M. Ehrenfeld (Eds.), Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender healthcare: A clinical guide to preventive, primary, and specialist care (pp. 397–404). Basel: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, B. (2008). Women workers and traders and the globalisation agenda in the Asian context. Retrieved April 11, 2017, from http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue17/hartley_intro.htm.

  • Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Duncan, D., & Johnson, R. (2015). Neighborhood-level LGBT hate crimes and bullying among sexual minority youths: A geospatial analysis. Violence and Victims, 30(4), 663–675. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-13-00166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He, H., Lv, F., Zhang, N. N., Wu, Z., Liao, Q., Chang, Z., et al. (2017). Look into the HIV epidemic of gay community with a socio-cultural perspective: A qualitative study in China, 2015–2016. PLoS ONE, 12(1: e0170457), 1–14. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0170457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M. (1991). Stigma, prejudice, and violence against lesbians and gay men. In J. C. Gonsiorek & J. D. Weinrich (Eds.), Homosexaulity: Research implications for public policy (pp. 60–80). California: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hershatter, G. (2007). Women in China’s long twentieth century. California: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hesketh, T., Li, L., & Zhu, W. X. (2005). The effect of China’s one-child family policy after 25 years. The New England Journal of Medicine, 353(11), 1171–1176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heubel, F. 何. (2004). Energetic vampirism: Lyotard, Foucault, Deleuze and the Chinese art of the bedchamber 能量的吸血主義:李歐塔、傅柯、德勒茲與中國房中術. Bulletin of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy 中國文哲研究集刊, 25, 259–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinsch, B. (1990). Passions of the cut sleeve: The male homosexual tradition in China. California: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho, L. W. W. (2008). Speaking of same-sex subjects in China. Asian Studies Review, 32(4), 491–509. doi:10.1080/10357820802492586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ho, L. W. W. (2010). Gay and lesbian subculture in urban China. Oxfordshire: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ho, D. Y. F., Xie, W., Liang, X., & Zeng, L. (2012). Filial piety and traditional Chinese values: A study of high and mass cultures. PsyCh Journal, 1, 40–55. doi:10.1002/pchj.6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsu, C., & Teets, J. (2016). Is China’s new Overseas NGO Management Law sounding the death knell for civil society? Maybe not. The Asia-Pacific Journal, 14(4:3), 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu, X., & Wang, Y. (2013). LGB identity among young Chinese: The influence of traditional culture. Journal of Homosexuality, 60(5), 667–684. doi:10.1080/00918369.2013.773815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, C. J., Valussi, E., & Palmer, D. A. (2011). Gender and sexuality. In D. A. Palmer, G. Shive, & P. L. Wickeri (Eds.), Chinese religious life (pp. 107–123). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ip, E., Chung, W., Lee, S., & Schiphorst, T. (2014). The wearable self: Braiding a feminist critique within a somaesthetics framework for design. In A. Marcus (Ed.), Design, user experience, and usability: User experience design practice (pp. 285–296). Cham: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kam, L. Y. L. (2006). Noras on the road: Family and marriage of lesbian women in Shanghai. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 10(3–4), 87–103. doi:10.1300/J155vOn03_06.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kam, L. Y. L. 金. (2014). Shanghai lalas: Female tongzhi communities and politics in urban China 上海拉拉 : 中國都市女同志社群與政治 (A. W. 廖. Liao, Trans.). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press 香港大學出版社.

  • Kong, T. S.-K. (2005). 3 queering masculinity in Hong Kong movies. In L. Pang & D. Wong (Eds.), Masculinities and Hong Kong cinema (pp. 57–80). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kong, T. S. K. (2014). Male sex work in China. In V. Minichiello & J. Scott (Eds.), Male sex work and society (pp. 314–341). New York: Harrington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwan, S. 關. (2001). Lan Yu 藍宇. Beijing: Yongning Creative Workshop 張永寧電影工作室.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwok, D. K., & Wu, J. (2015). Chinese attitudes towards sexual minorities in Hong Kong: Implications for mental health. International Review of Psychiatry, 27(5), 444–454. doi:10.3109/09540261.2015.1083950.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, J.-E. (2007). A new cultural cleavage in post-modern society. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, 27(3), 375–393. doi:10.1590/S0101-31572007000300004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lapinski, J., & Sexton, P. (2014). Still in the closet: The invisible minority in medical education. BMC Medical Education, 14(171), 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, M., Mathai, A., Veinot, P., Webster, F., & Mylopoulos, M. (2015). Exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) people’s experiences with disclosure of sexual identity to primary care physicians: A qualitative study. BMC Family Practice, 16(175), 1–8. doi:10.1186/s12875-015-0389-4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, A. (2005). Brokeback mountain. In J. Schamus, L. McMurtry, & D. Ossana (Producer). USA: Focus Features.

  • Lee, J. (2014). Too cruel for school: LGBT bullying, noncognitive skill development, and the educational rights of students. Harvard Civil Rights: Civil Liberties Law Review, 49(1), 261–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leung, H. H.-S. (2002). Thoughts on lesbian genders in contemporary Chinese cultures. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 6(2), 123–133. doi:10.1300/J155v06n02_16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy, D. L. (2009). Gay and lesbian identity development: An overview for social workers. Journal of Human Behaviour in the Social Environment, 19, 978–993. doi:10.1080/10911350903126866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, Y., Johnson, B. D., & Jenkins-Guarnieri, M. A. (2013). Sexual identity development and subjective well-being among Chinese lesbians. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 2(4), 242–254. doi:10.1037/a0033752.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieh-Mak, F., O’Hoy, K. M., & Luk, S. L. (1983). Lesbianism in the Chinese of Hong Kong. Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 12(1), 99–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, K., Button, D. M., Su, M., & Chen, S. (2016). Chinese college students’ attitudes towards homosexuality: Exploring the effects of traditional culture and modernising factors. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 13(2), 158–172. doi:10.1007/s13178-016-0223-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, M. (2013a). Two gay men seeking two lesbians: An analysis of Xinghun (formality marriage) ads on China’s Tianya.cn. Sexuality and Culture, 17, 494–511. doi:10.1007/s12119-012-9164-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, Y.-Y. 劉. (2013b). Extramarital relationship in Taiwanese proverbs 臺灣閩南俗諺反映的婚外關係. Journal of Taoyuan Innovation 桃園創新學報, 32, 509–535.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu, H., Feng, T., Ha, T., Liu, H., Cai, Y., Liu, X., et al. (2011). Chinese culture, homosexuality stigma, social support and condom use: A path analytic model. Stigma Research and Action, 1(1), 27–35. doi:10.5463/SRA.v1i1.16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, M. 劉., Yu, Z. 於., Zhang, B. 張., Shi, T. 史., Li, J. 李., Li, Y. 李., et al. (2015). Estimation on the numbers of Chinese homosexuality and people with same-sex sexual behaviours and related female 中國同性愛者、同性性行為者和相關女性群體人口數值估測. The Chinese Journal of Human Sexuality 中國性科學, 24(3), 117–121. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1672-1993.2015.03.041.

    Google Scholar 

  • Logan, S. R., Lasswell, T. A., Hood, Y., & Watson, D. C. (2014). Criteria for the selection of young adult queer literature. English Journal, 103(5), 30–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, L. (2015). China. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/china_S.pdf.

  • Magee, M., & Miller, D. C. (1997). Lesbian lives: Psychoanalytic narratives old and new. New Jersey: The Analytic Press Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, F. (2010). Backward glances: Contemporary Chinese cultures and the female homoerotic imaginery. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, J., & Cramer, E. P. (2008). Using technology to enhance qualitative research with hidden populations. The Qualitative Report, 13(2), 301–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meem, D. T., Gibson, M. A., & Alexander, J. F. (2010). Finding out: An introduction to LGBT studies. California: SAGE Publications Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishna, F., Newman, P. A., Daley, A., & Solomon, S. (2009). Bullying of lesbian and gay youth: A qualitative investigation. The British Journal of Social Work, 39, 1598–1614. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moleiro, C., & Pinto, N. (2015). Sexual orientation and gender identity: Review of concepts, controversies and their relation to psychopathology classification systems. Frontier in Psychology, 6(Article 1511), 1–6. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01511.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller, A., & Hughes, T. L. (2016). Making the invisible visible: A systematic review of sexual minority women’s health in Southern Africa. BMC Public Health, 16(307), 1–8. doi:10.1186/s12889-016-2980-6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ng, V. (1989). Homosexuality in the state in late imperial China. In M. Duberman, M. Vicinus, & J. G. Chauncey (Eds.), Reclaiming the gay and lesbian past (pp. 76–89). New York: Meridian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ng, V. (1997). Looking for lesbians in Chinese history. In M. Duberman (Ed.), A queer world : The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies reader (pp. 199–204). New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozeren, E. (2014). Sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace: A systematic review of literature. Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, 109, 1203–1215. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.613.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, R. J. (2016). Killing the rainbow: Violence against LGBT. Toronto: RJ Parker Publishing Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paul, L. (2009). Lesbianism. Retrieved April 6, 2017, from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Lesbianism.

  • Pei, Y., Ho, S.-Y. P., & Ng, M. L. (2007). Studies on women’s sexuality in China since 1980: A critical review. The Journal of Sex Research, 44(2), 202–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfister, R. (2012). Gendering sexual pleasures in early and medieval China. Asian Medicine, 7, 34–64. doi:10.1163/15734218-12341243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pharr, S. (1997). Homophobia: A weapon of sexism. California: Chardon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raphals, L. (2008). China: Ancient period. In B. G. Smith (Ed.), The Oxford encyclopaedia of women in world history (Vol. 1, pp. 345–352). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raymond, J. G. (2001). A passion for friends: Towards a philosophy of female affection. North Melbourne: Spinifex Press Pty Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid, D. P. (1989). The Tao of health, sex, and longevity. New York: Fireside Book.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhim, S. M. (1982). The status of women in China: Yesterday and today. Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspective on Asia, 20, 1–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritter, K., & Terndrup, A. I. (2002). Handbook of affirmative psychotherapy with lesbians and gay men. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rojas, C. (2009). Abandoned cities seen anew: Reflections on spatial specificity and temporal transience. In R. C. Morris (Ed.), Photographies east: The camera and its histories in East and Southeast Asia (pp. 207–228). Durham: Duke University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ruan, F. F. (1991). Sex in China: Studies in sexology in Chinese Culture. New York: Plenum Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ruan, F. F. (1997). China. In D. J. West & R. Green (Eds.), Sociolegal control of homosexuality: A multi-nation comparison (pp. 57–66). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruan, F. F., & Bullough, V. L. (1992). Lesbianism in China. Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 21(3), 217–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruan, F.-F., & Lau, M. P. (2004). China. In R. T. Francoeur & R. J. Noonan (Eds.), The continuum complete international encyclopaedia of sexuality (pp. 182–209). New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruan, F.-F., & Tsai, Y.-M. (1987). Male homosexuality in traditional Chinese literature. Journal of Homosexuality, 14(3–4), 21–33. doi:10.1300/J082v14n03_02.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruan, F.-F., & Tsai, Y.-M. (1988). Male homosexuality in contemporary mainland China. Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 17(2), 175–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rupp, L. J. (2009). Sapphistries: A global history of love between women. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, S. T., Everett, B. G., Rosario, M., & Birkett, M. (2014). Indicators of victimisation and sexual orientation among adolescents: Analyses from youth risk behaviour surveys. American Journal of Public Health, 104(2), 255–261. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, C., Russell, S. T., Huebner, D., Diaz, R., & Sanchez, J. (2010). Family acceptance in adolescence and the health of LGBT young adults. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 23(4), 205–213. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6171.2010.00246.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sang, T.-L. D. (2003). The emerging lesbian: Female same-sex desire in modern China. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schein, L. (1997). The consumption of colour and the politics of white skin in post-Mao China. In R. N. Lancaster & M. D. Leonardo (Eds.), The gender/sexuality reader: Culture, history, political economy (pp. 473–486). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiphorst, T., Chung, W., & Ip, E. (2013). Wo.Defy: Wearable interaction design inspired by a Chinese 19th century suffragette movement. Paper presented at the TEI 2013: Proceedings of the 7th international conference on tangible, embedded and embodied interaction (pp. 319–322), February 10–13, 2013, Barcelona, Spain.

  • Sherman, R. M., D’Orio, B., Rhodes, M. N., Johnson, S. G., & Kaslow, N. J. (2014). Racial/ethnic, spiritual/religious, and sexual orientations influences on suicidal behaviours. In M. K. Nock (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of suicide and self-injury (pp. 265–285). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi, L. (2004). Beginning a new discourse: The first Chinese lesbian film Fish and Elephant. Film Criticism, 28(3), 21–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi, L. (2013). Mirror rubbing: A critical genealogy of pre-modern Chinese female same-sex eroticism. Journal of Homosexuality, 60(5), 750–772. doi:10.1080/00918369.2013.773824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi, L. (2014). Chinese lesbian cinema: Mirror rubbing, lala, and les. Lanham: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, R. B. (2012). Dignity and sexuality: Claims on dignity in transnational debates over abortion and same-sex marriage. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 10(2), 355–379. doi:10.1093/icon/mos013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sim, A. (2008). Sapphic shadows. In K. E. Kuah (Ed.), Chinese women and the cyberspace (pp. 181–202). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method and research. London: SAGE Publications Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, T. W., Son, J., & Kim, J. (2014). Public attitudes towards homosexuality and gay rights across time and countries. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from file:///C:/Users/user/references/1/Public%20Attitudes%20towards%20Homosexaulity_Smith.pdf.

  • Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. (2015). Homosexuality. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/homosexuality/.

  • Stockard, J. E. (1989). Daughters of the Canton Delta: Marriage patterns and economic strategies in South China, 1860–1930. California: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suriyasarn, B. (2016). Discrimination and marginalisation of LGBT workers in Thailand. In T. Köllen (Ed.), Sexual orientation and transgender issues in organizations (pp. 197–215). Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tang, K.-Y. 唐., & Yu, H. 於. (2014). Comparison of maintenance and dissolution of gay’s and lesbian’s marriage: A perspective of simulated social anthropology 同妻同夫婚姻維持與解體的比較:一項虛擬社會人類學研究. Journal of Eastern Liaoning University (Social Sciences) 遼東學院學報(社會科學版), 16(6), 75–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Topley, M. (1978). Marriage resistance in rural Kwangtung. In A. P. Wolf (Ed.), Studies in Chinese society (pp. 247–268). California: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Agency for International Development, & United Nations Development Programme. (2014). Being LGBT in Asia: China country report: A participatory review and analysis of the legal and social environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons and civil society. Bangkok: United Nations Development Programme.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Gulik, R. H. (1961). Sexual life in ancient China: A preliminary survey of Chinese sex and society from ca. 1500 B.C. till 1644 A.D. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ventimiglia, N. (2012). LGBT selective victimisation: Unprotected youth on the streets. The Journal of Law in Society, 13, 439–453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang, H. (2004). Social change and its potential impacts on Chinese population health. Hygiea Internationalis: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the History of Public Health, 4(1), 109–151. doi:10.3384/hygiea.1403-8668.0441109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, M. C., & Edelstein, M. D. (2014). A world full of women. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei, W. (2007). Wandering men no longer wander around: The production and transformation of local homosexual identities in contemporary Chengdu. China. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 8(4), 572–588. doi:10.1080/14649370701568029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilper, J. P. (2016). Reconsidering the emergence of the gay novel in English and German. Indiana: Purdue University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, Y. L. (1995). Women’s education in traditional and modern China. Women’s History Review, 4(3), 345–367. doi:10.1080/0912029500200092.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, J. (2003). From Long Yang and Dui Shi to Tongzhi: Homosexuality in China. In J. Drescher & V. Lingiardi (Eds.), The mental health professions and homosexuality: International perspectives (pp. 117–144). Binghamton: The Haworth Medical Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, C. (2004). Homoerotic sensibilities in late imperial China. Oxford: Routledge Curzon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, C. (2006). Imperial Chinese theatre. In M. H. Ditmore (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of prostitution and sex work, Volumes 1 and 2 (pp. 220–222). Westport: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xing, F. 邢. (2012). An investigation of the lives of the Chinese gay men’s wives 中國同妻生存調查報告. Chengdu: Chengdu Times Press 成都時代出版社.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiong, Y. (2009). Social change and social policy in China: National adaptation to global challenge. International Journal of Japanese Sociology, 18, 33–44. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6781.2009.01120.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, W., Zheng, L., Xu, Y., & Zheng, Y. (2017). Internalised homophobia, mental health, sexual behaviours, and outness of gay/bisexual men from Southwest China. International Journal for Equity in Health, 16(36), 1–10. doi:10.1186/s12939-017-0530-1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yao, M.-G. (2014). China still far from accepting gays, lesbians. Retrieved April 6, 2017, from http://www.shanghaidaily.com/feature/China-still-far-from-accepting-gays-lesbians/shdaily.shtml.

  • Ye, Z. (2008). Zishu nü: Dutiful daughters of the Guangdong Delta. Retrieved April 11, 2017, from http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue17/ye.htm.

  • Zeng, C.-E. 曾. (2011). The history of lesbian in ancient China 中國古代女同性戀的發展歷史. Retrieved February 21, 2017, from http://www.zgxkx.org/sex/zgsex/201108/1033.html.

  • Zhang, J. 張. (2007). Homosexuality in ancient cities in China 古代城市中的同性戀. Retrieved February 21, 2017, from http://www.zgxkx.org/sex/zgsex/201206/1909.html.

  • Zhang, J. 張. (2010). The lesbian in ancient China 中國古代的女性同性戀. Shu-Te Online Studies of Humanities and Social Sciences 樹德人文社會電子學報, 6(1), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zheng, T. (2014). Contesting heteronormality: Recasting same-sex desire in China’s past and present. Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies, 12, 15–40.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I heartily thank the participants for the honest articulation of their lived experiences. I also appreciate Tina’s (one of the informants in this study) comments on the earlier draft of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hong Kong, China

    Fung Kei Cheng

Authors
  1. Fung Kei Cheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fung Kei Cheng.

Appendix: Guiding Interview Questions

Appendix: Guiding Interview Questions

  • What is the attitude of the local government towards lesbians?

  • What is the public attitude towards lesbians?

  • When and how did you discover your sexual orientation?

  • What did you feel when you were aware of your sexual orientation?

  • Did you come out to your parents and family members? If no, why? If yes, when and how. How did they respond? What did you deal with their responses?

  • Did you come out to your friends, and colleagues? If no, why? If yes, when and how? How did they respond? What did you deal with their responses?

  • If you do not mind, would you please tell me your experiences in partnering or intimate relationships?

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cheng, F.K. Dilemmas of Chinese Lesbian Youths in Contemporary Mainland China. Sexuality & Culture 22, 190–208 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-017-9460-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-017-9460-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation