Alternative Media and the Queer Feminist Community: The Lesbian Print Magazine in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses how lesbian alternative media developed in China. Under the resource-scarce condition, the lesbian print magazine as an alternative media helps align the isolated lesbian networks when other forms of social media were less prevalent. Using the first and the longest-running lesbian underground print magazine Les+ as my case study, I examine the development of the Chinese lesbian communities and their diversification through the lens of the alternative media. Based on content analysis, I find that the editors engage in three strategies to cultivate a lesbian and queer feminist discursive space: network-building, mutual empowerment, and politicization, which roughly represent three periods of the magazine’s development. While these strategies help build momentum for activism, they unintentionally narrow the scope of the magazine that has contributed to the disbandment. I argue that the demise of this alternative media signifies a new ground in the diversified queer feminist movement in China.