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Seeking Pleasure in Peril: Male Same-Sex Relations during the Cultural Revolution

Seeking Pleasure in Peril: Male Same-Sex Relations during the Cultural Revolution This article is part of a larger research project that traces the history of male same‐sex relations in China during the Mao era, a topic on which virtually no scholarship is currently available. The Chinese government named the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) “ten years of turmoil” in its aftermath. Stories circulate widely about men who were labeled as sodomites, humiliated and tortured in public, and sentenced to hard labor; some reportedly were beaten to death or committed suicide during this period. Using oral history and archival cases collected by the author, this article complicates this narrative about the Cultural Revolution by documenting different experiences of sexual awakening, ingenuity, and resilience of those men as well as their fear, misfortune, and tribulations. Despite all the risks of being arrested, interrogated, and disciplined by the authorities, clandestine sex between men persisted in both private and public spaces throughout this tumultuous period. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png positions Duke University Press

Seeking Pleasure in Peril: Male Same-Sex Relations during the Cultural Revolution

Kang, Wenqing
positions , Volume 30 (1) – Feb 1, 2022
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24 pages

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Copyright
Copyright 2022 by Duke University Press
ISSN
1067-9847
eISSN
1527-8271
DOI
10.1215/10679847-9417955
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This article is part of a larger research project that traces the history of male same‐sex relations in China during the Mao era, a topic on which virtually no scholarship is currently available. The Chinese government named the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) “ten years of turmoil” in its aftermath. Stories circulate widely about men who were labeled as sodomites, humiliated and tortured in public, and sentenced to hard labor; some reportedly were beaten to death or committed suicide during this period. Using oral history and archival cases collected by the author, this article complicates this narrative about the Cultural Revolution by documenting different experiences of sexual awakening, ingenuity, and resilience of those men as well as their fear, misfortune, and tribulations. Despite all the risks of being arrested, interrogated, and disciplined by the authorities, clandestine sex between men persisted in both private and public spaces throughout this tumultuous period.

Journal

positions – Duke University Press

Published: Feb 1, 2022

References

  • Gay Rights in China: Road to Respect
    Cao, Li
  • Socialist Sex: The Cultural Revolution Revisited
    Honig, Emily
  • The Decriminalization and Depathologization of Homosexuality in China
    Kang, Wenqing Weston, Timothy B. Jensen, Lionel M.
  • The Use of ‘Comrade’ as a Political Instrument in the Chinese Communist Party, from Mao to Xi
    Kohlenberg, Paul Joscha
  • “Cong huayu zaixian dao shenfen kangzheng: dazhong meijie yu zhongguo tongxinglian shequn de hudong yangjiu
    Lu, Xinlei
  • Qualities of Desire: Imagining Gay Identities in China
    Rofel, Lisa
  • Traffic in Money Boys
    Rofel, Lisa
  • The Cult of Hu Tianbao and the Eighteenth-Century Discourse of Homosexuality
    Szonyi, Michael
  • Wenge pojiele wo qingshu chumeng de mintuan
    Tong, Ge
  • Are Gay Rights Really Making Progress in China?
    Volodzko, David
  • Heroes, Hooligans, and Knights-Errant: Masculinities and Popular Media in the Early People's Republic of China
    Wang, Y. Yvon
  • How a ‘Bad Element’ Was Made: The Discovery, Accusation, and Punishment of Zang Qiren
    Yang, Kuisong Brown, Jeremy Johnson, Matthew D.
  • Gay Rights in China: Road to Respect
    Cao, Li
  • Socialist Sex: The Cultural Revolution Revisited
    Honig, Emily
  • The Decriminalization and Depathologization of Homosexuality in China
    Kang, Wenqing Weston, Timothy B. Jensen, Lionel M.
  • The Use of ‘Comrade’ as a Political Instrument in the Chinese Communist Party, from Mao to Xi
    Kohlenberg, Paul Joscha
  • “Cong huayu zaixian dao shenfen kangzheng: dazhong meijie yu zhongguo tongxinglian shequn de hudong yangjiu
    Lu, Xinlei
  • Qualities of Desire: Imagining Gay Identities in China
    Rofel, Lisa
  • Traffic in Money Boys
    Rofel, Lisa
  • The Cult of Hu Tianbao and the Eighteenth-Century Discourse of Homosexuality
    Szonyi, Michael
  • Wenge pojiele wo qingshu chumeng de mintuan
    Tong, Ge
  • Are Gay Rights Really Making Progress in China?
    Volodzko, David
  • Heroes, Hooligans, and Knights-Errant: Masculinities and Popular Media in the Early People's Republic of China
    Wang, Y. Yvon
  • How a ‘Bad Element’ Was Made: The Discovery, Accusation, and Punishment of Zang Qiren
    Yang, Kuisong Brown, Jeremy Johnson, Matthew D.