Gay Men In China Research Articles

How Does Masculinity Play a Protective Role for Gay Men? The Mediation Effect of Mindfulness Between Gender Role and Mental Distress

Masculinity is validated as a protective factor in mental health for gay population. However, potential mediators between masculinity and mental health remain unclear. Mindfulness, as one of the individual’s traits has been proved to play an essential role on mental health. Yet the correlation between mindfulness and masculinity has barely been examined, and whether mindfulness could serve as a key mediator to explain the protective effect masculinity bringing to mental health for gay men remains unknown. To test this hypothesis, we recruited 210 gay men in China to conduct online questionnaires containing scales of FFMQ, BSRI, DASS-21 and demographic features. Based on mediation analysis, we found among gay men, mindfulness significantly mediates the negative relationship between masculinity and stress (SIE (standardized indirect effect) = −.20, 95% CI [–.28 −.11]), anxiety (SIE = −.17, 95% CI [–.26 −.09]) and depression (SIE = −.20, 95% CI [–.29 −.11]). Furthermore, by decomposing sub-dimensions of mindfulness, we found both “describing” and “acting with awareness” exhibit significant mediation effects between masculinity and mental distress. We further found “being analytical”, one key sub-dimension of masculinity, positively correlates with mindful describing (r = .369, p < .001). Our results indicate that trait mindfulness serves as a core mediator between masculinity and mental health, the key trait in masculinity (being analytical) closely connects with the essential element of mindfulness (describing) and low in masculinity might undermine gay men’s abilities of acting with awareness (staying focused). Our findings may also shed light on developing gay men-aimed mindfulness-based clinical interventions.

A Machine Learning Model for Identifying Sexual Health Influencers to Promote the Secondary Distribution of HIV Self-Testing Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men in China: Quasi-Experimental Study.

Sexual health influencers (SHIs) are individuals actively sharing sexual health information with their peers, and they play an important role in promoting HIV care services, including the secondary distribution of HIV self-testing (SD-HIVST). Previous studies used a 6-item empirical leadership scale to identify SHIs. However, this approach may be biased as it does not consider individuals' social networks. This study used a quasi-experimental study design to evaluate how well a newly developed machine learning (ML) model identifies SHIs in promoting SD-HIVST compared to SHIs identified by a scale whose validity had been tested before. We recruited participants from BlueD, the largest social networking app for gay men in China. Based on their responses to the baseline survey, the ML model and scale were used to identify SHIs, respectively. This study consisted of 2 rounds, differing in the upper limit of the number of HIVST kits and peer-referral links that SHIs could order and distribute (first round ≤5 and second round ≤10). Consented SHIs could order multiple HIV self-testing (HIVST) kits and generate personalized peer-referral links through a web-based platform managed by a partnered gay-friendly community-based organization. SHIs were encouraged to share additional kits and peer-referral links with their social contacts (defined as "alters"). SHIs would receive US $3 incentives when their corresponding alters uploaded valid photographic testing results to the same platform. Our primary outcomes included (1) the number of alters who conducted HIVST in each group and (2) the number of newly tested alters who conducted HIVST in each. We used negative binomial regression to examine group differences during the first round (February-June 2021), the second round (June-November 2021), and the combined first and second rounds, respectively. In January 2021, a total of 1828 men who have sex with men (MSM) completed the survey. Overall, 393 SHIs (scale=195 and ML model=198) agreed to participate in SD-HIVST. Among them, 229 SHIs (scale=116 and ML model=113) ordered HIVST on the web. Compared with the scale group, SHIs in the ML model group motivated more alters to conduct HIVST (mean difference [MD] 0.88, 95% CI 0.02-2.22; adjusted incidence risk ratio [aIRR] 1.77, 95% CI 1.07-2.95) when we combined the first and second rounds. Although the mean number of newly tested alters was slightly higher in the ML model group than in the scale group, the group difference was insignificant (MD 0.35, 95% CI -0.17 to -0.99; aIRR 1.49, 95% CI 0.74-3.02). Among Chinese MSM, SHIs identified by the ML model can motivate more individuals to conduct HIVST than those identified by the scale. Future research can focus on how to adapt the ML model to encourage newly tested individuals to conduct HIVST. Chinese Clinical Trials Registry ChiCTR2000039632; https://www.chictr.org.cn/showprojEN.html?proj=63068. RR2-10.1186/s12889-021-11817-2.

Are All Gay Men at Risk of Developing HIV/AIDS? Why China's Mass HIV Testing Has Majorly Targeted Gay Men in the Era of Biomedicalization.

Global HIV/AIDS responses have been increasingly biomedically dominated over the past years. In line with this shifting paradigm, China has prioritized mass HIV testing as a practical approach to controlling its HIV/AIDS epidemics among at-risk populations, especially gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM). This study analyzed why China's mass HIV testing mainly targeted gay men by understanding the perspectives of public health professionals, community-based organization (CBO) workers, and gay men. In addition, this study revealed the tensions and unintended consequences of HIV/AIDS prevention and the representation of gay men in China. The study involved fieldwork conducted in a major city in Eastern China from 2015 to 2019. Semi-structured interviews were held with participants from the three abovementioned groups (N = 25). The study identified four processes concerning why gay men are mainly targeted for HIV testing. Some public health professionals believe that being a gay man is equivalent to having HIV/AIDS risks. In addition, this study particularly noted tensions between public health professionals and gay men, including gay men-identified CBO workers, over whether mass HIV testing should target gay men or anyone who engaged in sexual risk behaviors. This study argued that a particular focus on gay men due to pursuing biomedical advances in HIV/AIDS prevention seems to have unintendedly stereotyped gay men based on the presumptions that they are at risk of developing HIV/AIDS. In addition, this study corresponded to the broader social scientific discussion concerning whether HIV/AIDS intervention should target specific sexual risk practices or sexual identity/population.

Keeping A Distance: Changing Everyday Lives of Married Migrant Gay Men in China’s State-owned Enterprises

ABSTRACT This study examines continuity and change in the lives of rural migrant gay men working in China’s state-owned enterprises (SOE) from an everyday life perspective. By examining their sexuality, migration histories, and heterosexual marriage experiences, this study contributes to sexuality and migration literature by exploring how rural-to-urban migrant gay men maintain their everyday homosexual intimacies in post-socialist China. It adds to the perspective that gay men’s perceptions, interpretations, and reactions to marriage and sexuality vary, due to their personal migration experiences. These findings also contribute to scholarly discussions of everyday life by providing a nuanced analysis of how spatial tactics are employed as forms of everyday resistance by gay men for maintaining their sexualities.

Gender Role Attitudes Influence Vocal Masculine Preferences Among Gay Men in China.

Gender role attitudes refer to attitudes toward the appropriate roles, rights, and responsibilities of men and women in society. Evidence indicates that individuals with traditional gender role attitudes tend to prefer mates with sex-typical opposite-sex characteristics in heterosexual men and women. This study examined whether gender role attitudes were associated with vocal masculinity preference in gay men in China. Five hundred and sixty-seven participants aged between 16 and 49 years completed the vocal masculinity preference (voice pitch and vocal tract length; VTLs) and gender role attitudes scale. The results indicated that gay men generally preferred masculine voices (lower voice pitch and longer VTLs) and gender role attitudes were positively correlated with preferences for masculine cues in the voices of men. While individuals indicating an affinity with traditional gender roles exhibited stronger preferences for feminine voices, which were inconsistent with the present hypotheses. The results help us understand the role of traditional gender beliefs in the mate preferences of gay men in China. Furthermore, based on the results, understanding one's gender-role attitudes can help cultivate more diversified criteria for mate selection and facilitate gay men in better choosing suitable mates. Future longitudinal studies should examine the relationship between gender role attitudes and masculine preference changes over time. Whether this relationship differs in the different sexual roles of gay men should also be explored.

Internalized Homonegativity and Psychological Distress Among Chinese Gay Men: The Mediating Role of Loneliness and the Moderating Role of Authoritarian Filial Piety.

Purpose: Previous research has consistently found that internalized homonegativity is a salient predictor of psychological distress, but how and when this relationship occurs is unclear, especially among Chinese sexual minority individuals, who are less frequently studied in the literature. This study explored whether the cultural norm of filial piety moderates the indirect association between internalized homonegativity and psychological problems (i.e., symptoms of anxiety and depression) through a sense of loneliness. Methods: To study this question, data were collected from 426 self-identified gay men in China, from February to July 2021, using an online platform. Demographic data, loneliness, authoritarian filial piety (AFP), and internalized homonegativity were measured in this cross-sectional study. Results: In the direct and mediation models, internalized homonegativity had a significant association with psychological distress. In the moderated mediation model, AFP strengthened the effect of internalized homonegativity on loneliness. The indirect positive effect of internalized homonegativity on psychological distress through loneliness was stronger for participants with higher AFP. Conclusions: Loneliness appears to play a role in the relationship between internalized homonegativity and psychological distress. Intervention programs for reducing psychological distress among sexual minority individuals should especially target gay men who endorse high levels of AFP because as a group, their internalized homonegativity is more likely to have a stronger impact on psychological health through loneliness compared with those with low levels of AFP.

Good or bad? The influence of filial piety belief on nonsuicidal self-injury and suicide risk among young gay men in China.

Good or bad? The influence of filial piety belief on nonsuicidal self-injury and suicide risk among young gay men in China.

For the Sake of Parents? Marriages of Convenience between Lesbians and Gay Men in China

A marriage of convenience involves a lesbian and a gay man. They know about each other’s sexual orientation but typically do not disclose it to parents. Prior research has often cited parents as a primary source of pressure driving Chinese lesbians and gay men into marriages of convenience. However, parents are also found to be a key source of support for the Chinese LGBTQ+ community. Incorporating perspectives of parents of lesbian and gay individuals, whose voices have rarely been represented, I examine how these parents, in addition to lesbians and gay men, make sense of marriages of convenience. Such marriages imply the tension facing sexual minorities between preserving sexual autonomy and maintaining intergenerational harmony. This tension is fundamentally shaped by the ingrained institution of different-sex marriage that foregrounds reproduction. Marriages of convenience likely consolidate heteronormativity through day-to-day rituals. Both sexual minorities and their parents may internalize heteronormative values and label them as “parental pressure” leading to marriages of convenience. Yet there are prospects that both generations actively navigate the unease of conflicting family/personal interests and leverage intergenerational support to fight against heteronormativity. Drawing on neo-familism, I highlight how familism and individualism are intertwined to shape Chinese families and sexualities.

Towards a geography of queer temporalities: Time, space and rural–urban migrant gay men's exploration of sexuality in China

AbstractBuilding on the geography of sexualities and queer temporality studies, this research investigates the entanglement of sexuality, time and space with a case study of rural–urban migrant gay men in China. Based on participant observations and in‐depth interviews with 46 Chinese rural–urban migrant gay men, we identify three forms of queer temporality – queer biographical time, queer life stage, and queer clock time – emerging from Chinese gay men's life stories. We also demonstrate how these different forms of queer temporality are conditioned by and influence certain spatial practices among our informants. In doing so, this analysis contributes to the geographical research on sexuality by challenging the rural/urban dichotomy in the existing literature on the one hand, and exploring the possibilities for a geography of queer temporality on the other.

Chinese Lesbian and Gay Adults’ Self-Reported Experiences of Negative Treatment and Violence From Family of Origin: Evidence From a Larger-Scale Study in China

Lesbian and gay adults’ self-reported experiences of violence from family of origin in adulthood have been less examined in previous research on interpersonal violence from intimate others. In China, while it has been understood that lesbians and gay men face mounting pressure to marry and have children, there is little empirical evidence on their experiences of violence from family of origin. This paper analyzes self-reported experiences of negative treatment and violence from a larger-scale study in China of 11,048 Chinese lesbian and gay cisgender adults. The majority of Chinese lesbians and gay men felt pressure to get married and have children (70.4%), and experienced different forms of negative treatment and violence from their family members based on sexual orientation (54.2%). A significant gender difference was observed. This paper provides novel empirical evidence for the lived experiences of lesbians and gay men in China and bears implications for China’s Anti-domestic Violence Law.

Adverse Childhood Experiences Predict Preference for Male Facial Masculinity in Gay Men in China

Adverse Childhood Experiences Predict Preference for Male Facial Masculinity in Gay Men in China

‘Good hard fuck’ made in China: a case study of Chinese semi-professionally produced gay porn

ABSTRACT In recent years, a series of locally produced gay porn films under the brand name ‘Chitu’ has gained popularity among gay men in China. As all pornography, gay and straight, is still illegal in China, this phenomenon has notable cultural and political significance. Building on my nine months of ethnographic fieldwork in Chinese gay communities and subsequent textual analysis, this article attempts to use Chitu (arguably the first gay porn series in China) as a case study to investigate the representation of gay sexualities in China alongside an exploration of the perception of this representation. I unpack the production and perception of Chitu in relation to the notion of sexual citizenship and argue that the presence of Chitu celebrates a particular Chinese cosmopolitan gay sexual script.

“Red is not the only color of a rainbow”: The making and resistance of the “MSM” subject among gay men in China

Public health scholars classify gay men as "men who have sex with men (MSM)" in their studies and interventions. Debates have been raised about the MSM classification for decades. However, we know little about how people who are classified as MSM perceive and respond to this classification, particularly in the authoritarian context where the biopower interacts with the repressive state power. Drawing upon Ian Hacking's dynamic nominalism theory, this study tries to fill these gaps with interviews of 40 gay men in three Chinese cities about their interactions with public health education materials. I examined their perceptions of MSM knowledge and discourses associated with the classification, as well as their identifications to the MSM subject. I found that, on the one hand, many gay men had internalized the MSM subjectivity and considered themselves essentially at high risk of HIV infection. This compliance was constructed through various biopower techniques with the support of the state's repressive power, as the Chinese state censored almost all public representations of gay men except the HIV/AIDS subject MSM. On the other hand, some of my interviewees were resistant to be part of the MSM classification. I showed how this failure is an unintended consequence of the hegemonic MSM discourse and the authoritarian regime's institutional exclusion of the gay men's community's engagement in the expertise network that develops intervention materials and strategies. At last, I proposed to move beyond the debate around the name and representational character of the MSM by moving toward a more reflexive public health.

Circular, transitory, permanent: state and migration pathways among the intranational migrant gay men in China

Drawing on life-history interviews conducted with Chinese intranational migrant gay men in Shenzhen, a rising migrant metropolis in South China, this article examines the pathways of Chinese intranational sexual migration, with a special focus on the state’s complicated role. I identify three patterns of migration pathway—circular, transitory, and permanent migration—to capture the tempo-spatial complexity in the Chinese gay men’s migratory trajectories. These categories suggest the important role played by migrants’ sexuality and class in shaping their migration pathways. They also allow me to observe how China’s state-sponsored rural-urban divide entangles with Shenzhen’s population governance policies in shaping the Chinese migrant gay men’s lived experiences and migration pathways in tempo-spatial terms. By emphasizing the state’s complicated role, this article opens up possibilities to theorize sexual migration from a Southern perspective.

'Red Is Not the Only Color of a Rainbow': The Making and Resistance of the 'MSM' Subject Among Gay Men in China

Public health scholars classify gay men as “men who have sex with men (MSM)” in their studies and interventions. Debates have been raised about the MSM classification for decades. However, we know little about how people who are classified as MSM perceive and respond to this classification, particularly in the authoritarian context where the bio-power interacts with the repressive state power. Drawing upon Ian Hacking’s dynamic nominal-ism theory, this study tries to fill these gaps with interviews of 40 gay men in three Chinese cities about their interactions with public health education materials. I examined their perceptions of MSM knowledge and discourses associated with the classification, as well as their identifications to the MSM subject. I found that, on the one hand, many gay men had internalized the MSM subjectivity and considered themselves essentially at high risk of HIV infection. This compliance was constructed through various bio-power techniques with the support of the state’s repressive power, as the Chinese state censored almost all public representations of gay men except the HIV/AIDS subject MSM. On the other hand, some of my interviewees were resistant to be part of the MSM classification. I showed how this failure is an unintended consequence of the hegemonic MSM discourse and the authoritarian regime’s institutional exclusion of the gay men’s community’s engagement in the expertise network that develops intervention materials and strategies. At last, I proposed to move beyond the debate around the name and representational character of the MSM by moving toward a more reflexive public health.

English

English

“I Want to Make Queer Films, But Not LGBT Films”

Commentary| November 01 2019 “I Want to Make Queer Films, But Not LGBT Films”: An Interview with He Xiaopei He Xiaopei; He Xiaopei He Xiaopei is executive director of the Pink Space Sexuality Research Centre in Beijing and a film director. Her films include The Lucky One, which follows an HIV-positive woman with advanced cancer retelling her story of struggle with poverty and a judging society, and Our Marriage: When Lesbians Marry Gay Men in China, an exploration of the lives of four lesbians who decided to marry gay men in order to secretly pursue their relationships with their girlfriends and at the same time fulfil their social obligation to get married, and Yvo and Chrissy, which follows the life of a queer anarchist community in Brighton, UK. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Séagh Kehoe; Séagh Kehoe Séagh Kehoe is a postdoctoral fellow in Chinese languge and Culture at the Contemporary China Centre, University of Westminister. They recently completed their PhD in contemporary Chinese studies at the University of Nottingham. Their research focuses on ethnicity, gender, and media in modern and contemporary China. They have published in Asian Ethnicity and The China Quarterly. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Bao Hongwei Bao Hongwei Bao Hongwei is associate professor in media studies at the University of Nottingham. He holds a PhD in gender studies and cultural studies from the University of Sydney. His research primarily focuses on gay identity and queer politics in contemporary China. He has published articles in Cultural Studies; Health, Culture and Society; Global Media and China; Interventions: A Journal for Postcolonial Studies; Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art; JOMEC Journal; and Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research. He is coeditor of Queer/Tongzhi China: New Perspectives on Research, Activism, and Media Cultures (with Elisabeth Engebretsen and William Schroeder, 2015) and author of Queer Comrades: Gay Identity and Tongzhi Activism in Postsocialist China (2018). Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google positions (2019) 27 (4): 811–823. https://doi.org/10.1215/10679847-7727007 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation He Xiaopei, Séagh Kehoe, Bao Hongwei; “I Want to Make Queer Films, But Not LGBT Films”: An Interview with He Xiaopei. positions 1 November 2019; 27 (4): 811–823. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/10679847-7727007 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll Journalspositions Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright 2019 by Duke University Press2019 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: Commentary You do not currently have access to this content.

Relationships between disgust sensitivity and trait preferences in gay men in China

Disgust can be thought of as a disease-avoidance mechanism. Previous studies indicated that pathogen disgust is correlated to preferences for sexual dimorphism in faces and voices in heterosexual women and men, as well as in gay men. In this study, we examined the associations between disgust sensitivity and preferences for five potential traits of romantic partners among gay men in China. Participants (N = 590) completed the three domains of Disgust Scale and rated their preferences for five partner-related traits: attractiveness, warmth, health, success, and masculinity. Pathogen disgust was positively correlated with stronger preferences for all traits. A moral disgust was positively correlated with stronger preferences for attractiveness, warmth, and health. Sexual disgust was negatively correlated with preferences for attractiveness, but was positively correlated with stronger preferences for masculinity. The results indicated the broad associations between disgust and mate/partner preference, including faces, voices, beardedness, and personality traits. The pattern of results was consistent with disease-avoidance hypothesis of disgust.

Negotiations Between Chinese Gay Men and Lesbians and Their Parents About Marriage

This article aims to demonstrate how critical discourse analysis (CDA) can be used for studying and analyzing self-identified gay men’s and lesbians’ (simplified as gays and lesbians in the following) marriage challenges. Chinese gay men and lesbians face many challenges, among which marriage is conceivably their top concern. The majority of these individuals must negotiate this issue with their parents. Discourses woven by gays and lesbians to influence their parents are crucial for understanding how they negotiate this issue. Such an understanding is the focus of the present study of 20 participants including 10 lesbians and 10 gay men in China. This study applies CDA to unveil the functions, linguistic techniques, and ideological bases of gay men’s and lesbians’ discourses in negotiation. The application demonstrates the strength of CDA in analyzing how people use language to produce and construct identities and activities. The current research advances the use of CDA not only by taking the initiative of using it to study this emerging issue but also by incorporating the analysis of inherent discursive ideologies.

Mental Health Status and Associated Contributing Factors among Gay Men in China.

Chinese gay men are preferentially vulnerable to mental health problems because of deep-rooted, traditional social influence that overemphasizes heterosexual marriage, fertility, and filial piety. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from November to December 2017 using the Chinese version of the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) to assess the status of, and factors associated with the mental health of Chinese gay men. Unadjusted associations between demographic factors and the total score of SCL-90-R were examined using t/F tests or person correlation analysis. The main factors that were most predictive of the aggregate score of SCL-90-R were identified by multiple linear regressions. A total of 367 gay men participated in this survey with an average score of SCL-90-R of 180.78 ± 79.58. The scores of seven dimensions (OCS, INTS, DEPR, ANX, HOS, PHOA, PARI) for Chinese gay men were found to be significantly higher than the national norm (all p < 0.001). Age (B = −1.088, SE = 0.478, p = 0.023), educational level (B = −14.053, SE = 5.270, p = 0.008), and degree of coming out publicly (B = −23.750, SE = 4.690, p < 0.001) were protective factors for participants’ mental health status. A gay man who is the only child in his family was more likely to obtain a higher total score of SCL-90-R in China (B = 59.321, SE = 7.798, p < 0.001). Our study reveals the worrying mental health status of Chinese gay men. Shifts in familial, governmental, and societal normas are suggested to improve the current social acceptance towards sexual minority men, as well as to reduce detrimental health effects.