Date Thesis Awarded

5-2021

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies

Advisor

Elizabeth Losh

Committee Members

Francis Tanglao Aguas

Jennifer Putzi

Abstract

As video games attract a massive base of players in China, many video game streamers become key influences in the video game community. However, a queer practice starts trending among the male video game streamers in this hyper-masculinized community—cross-dressing. This thesis aims to examine why the male cross-dressing trend becomes popular and how it affects the cultural representations of cross-dressers, transgender women, and non-binary people in China. I do case studies of four cross-dressing videos (or live streaming recordings) and analyze how these streamers present femininity in their performances and how the male cross-dressing trend has shifted the cultural norms of masculinity. I contend that although the male cross-dressing trend is not intended to be subversive, the performances in the Chinese video game community cross many boundaries such as femininity/masculinity, homo/heterosexual, public/private, virtual/reality, etc. and open up spaces to imagine beyond the patriarchal notions of gender and sexuality.

Recommended Citation

He, Xuanye, "The Trend of Male Cross-dressing in the Chinese Video Game Community" (2021). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1710.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1710