In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

The tongzhi communities in China are fast changing and internally diverse. The life stories, survival strategies and concerns of lalas included in this book represent mainly those of the group of lala informants whom I met in Shanghai during 2005–11. The discussion and analysis of tongzhi politics are based on my participation in the local tongzhi communities during the same period of time. My major site of research was Shanghai, but my participation in tongzhi activism in China allowed me to get in touch with local communities in other parts of the country. From the outset, this book did not aim to provide a generalization of lala lives in the post-reform era; rather, it was an attempt to document a portion of lala communities at a time when tongzhi movements are at a formative stage and when identity-based sexual and gender communities are just beginning to emerge in China. The conflict of the public and private lives of lalas was the central area of study. Research works on lalas in China are growing in number, but are still very limited compared to those on the gay communities in China. This study did not include groups of lalas who are “invisible”, especially those who are not readily accessible in the present identity-based communities. For example, transgender identified lalas, women with same-sex desires who are from rural areas, who are economically and culturally deprived, or who are over fifty were not included. The informants of this study—mostly in their twenties and thirties, well-educated and of urban origin—represented the most active and visible group in the lala communities in Shanghai and other major cities in China during 2005–11. It is hoped that more documentation and studies of marginal groups of lalas can be carried out in the future. The introduction of market economy and numerous social changes have dramatically transformed the most intimate lives of people in China. The “project tongzhi”, as discussed in the Introduction, has attracted much attention from a global audience through its association with human rights and the pursuit of modernization; it has also attracted attention domestically with its role in the national campaign to build new discourses of sexual scientism. Paradoxical representations of tongzhi can be seen captured in the English and Chinese Conclusion: Seeing Diversity Among Us 106 Shanghai Lalas media in China, in the writings of different state experts and in the public remarks of local officials. Addressing the global audience, the state uses tongzhi to construct a new image of a democratic, modernized nation. Among domestic citizens, tongzhi is depoliticized as homosexuals, and is usually confined to the discussions of public health, security issues and academic studies. Media have shown a keen interest in the homosexual population in recent years. Individual tongzhi have appeared on popular television programmes and lifestyle magazines . Information about homosexuality is much more available to the general public. In 2011, it is estimated that there are hundreds of tongzhi websites in the country. They have been developing rapidly since the late 1990s with the help of new communication technologies such as the Internet, pagers and mobile phones. Individuals are easily connected into communities as a result, and this in turn, has led to the fast growth of local lala communities, particularly in the past decade. These communities were first formed on the Internet in forums and private chatrooms, and very soon, developed into independent lala websites. The three most popular lala websites in Shanghai were all launched in the first half of the 2000s. In 2005, the first official lala group made up of local women (with its core members from Shanghai and other parts of China), the Nvai Lesbian Group, was founded. In the years that followed, new lala groups emerged in different cities every year. Emerging Diversities As tongzhi communities in China are expanding and multiplying at great speed, internal diversities have emerged. In lala communities, minority groups such as married lalas first started to voice their specific concerns in as early as 2005. Debates surrounding norms of conduct, for example, forms of relationship , ethics of same-sex love, gender identifications and expressions have surfaced in lala communities. Transgender identified lalas and FTM (female-tomale transsexual people) are emerging and demanding visibility. Oral history projects are being carried out by local groups to track and document lives of lala women in old age, as well as women with same-sex desires but without explicit identifications. Lalas and gay men engaged...

Share