Contemporary Conceptualisations of the Tomboy Identity in Lesbian Communities in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Sketching out the Tomboy: Contemporary Conceptualisations of the Tomboy Identity in Lesbian Communities in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan Carman Ka Man Fung 0000-0002-3872-2565 Doctor of Philosophy April 2021 Screen and Cultural StuDies, School of Culture and Communication, Faculty of Arts Submitted in total fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2 Abstract This thesis examines the conceptualisations, uses, and politics of the lesbian secondary gender1 “tomboy” within lesbian communities in China (PRC), Hong Kong, and Taiwan during the late 2010s. The term tomboy has been widely used by queer women in these communities to describe masculine lesbian expressions, fashion, and/or gender role for over four decades.2 Screen representations of tomboy originating from within the Chinese-speaking world and from neighbouring Asian regions were particularly popular among these women during the late 2000s and early 2010s. And yet, since the 1990s3 and increasingly today, a growing section of these communities has been calling for a collective rejection of tomboy, claiming that it reinforces conservative patriarchal and heteronormative values and is therefore anti-feminist. This thesis draws on life stories from those caught between the once-popular use of tomboy and their newfound anti-tomboy feminist sensibilities. It explores the stories of the many women who decided to abandon their tomboy identity in search of their real gender, women who turn to American queer media in hopes of finding true feminist lesbian representations, those who struggle with whether to identify as tomboy or not, and those who in the process of self-searching no longer see themselves as lesbians or women at all. It analyses how contemporary debates about the tomboy in turn shape the ways in which these individuals think about gender, sexual identity, the self, geographies, and cultures. This thesis also examines the contributions that transnational queer screen representations make to popular conceptualisations of the tomboy and these related ideas. It combines textual analysis of relevant screen texts circulating within the communities in question with in-depth empirical interview data revealing participants’ interpretations of these screen texts. This thesis thus offers a critical engagement with 3 the media materials that contribute to the cultural production of the tomboy identity, and more urgently, it is also a critical engagement with the intimate, conceptual, and affective worlds of those who live out this identity. 1 The term “secondary gender” was first used by Jennifer Robertson (1992) to describe the masculine and feminine gender attributes performed by female theatre actors in late nineteenth-century to mid twentieth-century Japan. It has since been used by scholars (Li, 2011; Martin, 2006) to describe lesbian sub-labels in Chinese-speaking contexts. 2 See Chao, 1996, 2000, 2001; Gian, 1997; Hu, 2017a; Kam, 2008; Lai, 2007; Leung, 2008; Li, 2017; Martin, 2006, 2010; D. T.-S. Tang, 2011; Tong, 2008; Zheng, 1997. 3 See Martin, 2006; P. Wang, 2001. Declaration I declare that (i) the thesis comprises only my original work towards the Doctor of Philosophy degree except where indicated in the preface; (ii) due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used; and (iii) the thesis is fewer than the maximum word limit in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices as approved by the Research Higher Degrees Committee. Signed: Carman Ka Man Fung (28 Apr 2021) 5 Preface This thesis is supported by the Melbourne Research Scholarship from the University of Melbourne, and by the Graduate Research in Arts Travel Scheme and Arts Graduate Research International Grant from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. I must give my deepest thanks to the Faculty and the University for their support. The publication status of thesis content appearing in other publications are as follows: Chapter Four is submitted to an edited book currently being considered by the Hong Kong University Press and is in revision following peer review; portions of Chapters Two and Three appear in a journal article published by the Journal of Lesbian Studies on 29 Nov 2019. All are single-authored. 6 Acknowledgement This thesis was written on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respect to their Elders past, present and emerging. In my thesis I address perceptions of Western sexual modernity in the Sinophone world, this perception is often imaginary in nature but the violence of settler coloniality in Australia today is not only materially enforced and felt, but also ongoing. I therefore wish to draw my reader’s attention to the activism fighting against this violence and especially to those fighting for justice for Aboriginal deaths in custody. Writing at a time of abundant violence and horror in Australia, throughout the world amidst the covid-19 pandemic, and in my home city Hong Kong, I am quite often overcome with despair, but in the darkest hours I was uplifted by—and in many ways, saved by—the opportunity to still do meaningful work with this project, and I am so very grateful to every person who has made this journey possible. I must give my sincerest and deepest thanks to my supervisors, Associate Professor Fran Martin and Dr. Gilbert Caluya, for their invaluable advice, for their patience, and enthusiastic support, without which this thesis would not have been possible. I am extremely grateful to Fran for showing me how to give voice to and critically engage with the communities I interviewed, and to Gilbert for his immense knowledge and unique insights, which he has so generously shared with me throughout the years. To have been given the opportunity to learn after them has been one of the very great fortunes I have had. Under their guidance, I became a better researcher, a more careful thinker, and a more engaged listener. I have no doubt that I will carry on what I have learnt in the years to come. I also want to give my sincerest thanks to all the people I interviewed for this project. I must thank them for their generosity, for sharing with me not only their time 7 but also their life stories, for letting me catch a glimpse into their worlds. This is dedicated to all of them. I also wish to express gratitude to the two chairs of my review committee, Professor Seán Cubitt and Professor Chris Healy. I am thankful to Seán for his very kind and encouraging words and for his positive feedback, and to Chris for his support and perceptive comments, and for advising me to keep “dreaming up the different ways to write this thesis,” an advice that I have taken to heart since. I also wish to thank Professor Audrey Yue and Dr. Egret Lulu Zhou for their valuable feedback on my PhD proposal. I must also thank Dr. Eva Li for her comments on my preliminary analysis of the interview data, which have been tremendously helpful. Special thanks to Dr. Bidisha Banerjee and Dr. Au Chung To for their help and support with my PhD application, and to my MPhil supervisor, Dr. Caroline Gonda, for her advice and comments on my master thesis, which became the inspiration for this PhD project. To the late Dr. Esther M. K. Cheung, whose teaching, courageousness, and spirit I miss dearly and think of often. To my teachers, Dr. Fiona Yuk-Wa Law, Dr. Winnie L. M. Yee, Dr. Jason Ho, Dr. Helena Wu, and Dr. Lisa Lam. Thank you. To my PhD cohort and indeed my PhD family, Adam Dedman, Oscar Tantoco Serquiña, Wendy Li, Katherine FitzHywel, Erika M. Carreon, Joss Bardot, Miriam La Rosa, Duncan Caillard, Corey Cribb, Cristóbal Escobar, Neslie Carol Tan, Chloe Ho, Brandon Liew, Juanjuan Wu, Sarah Fantini, Francesca Kavanagh, Mihai Bacaran, and Kim Yen, thank you for your company, your solidarity, and your kindness. I never expected to find a professional community that would also feel like family, and yet, there you are. 8 To Percy Gurtler, Joyce Cheng, Akib Karim, Norris Chen, and Aldin Gadiel Ortinez, thank you for making Melbourne truly my second home. A city only becomes dear because of its people, and Melbourne is very dear to me because of you. To my Cambridge friends Mandy Leung, Amélie Duval, Precy Kwan, and Katerina Tselika. Thank you for your friendship, your persistent support and belief in my research, despite my decision to move some 9,000 miles and then another 7,000 miles away from you. I hope we meet again soon. And to Daniel Ohayon, who moved in the other direction of the globe. Thank you. I cannot wait to cross path again. To Ben White, Stacey Foh, Alice M., thank you for always cheering me up with memes over long-distance texting, when it is always 3 a.m. either on my end or yours. And to Hélio Brandão and Eira Emilia, thank you, for always cheering me on. To my dear friends from my home city, Jessie Kwok, Ewen Ma, Amelia Chieu, Kaitlin Chan Ka Yin, Ka-Man Tse, Christy Chan, Christine Li Yuk Tung, Manwai Lee, Lo Yan Yin Isabella, Sharon Tai, Michael Ginn, Julia Chow, Juliette Cheung, Venus Wong, Angel Ng, Taylor Cheung, Dean Ho, Esther Ho Ngai Sum, Ady Hoi Yung Lai, Stephanie Tse, Iris Kwong, Carol Ku, Ho Ki Yan, Cherry Chow, and Tannei Chan, and to my cousin Andy Mok and my partner’s sister Hailie Chui. Thank you for making Hong Kong loveable, still, as it always will be, until the end of time. To my partner in life, my other half, my rock, Taryn Chui. How do I even begin to thank you? Your quiet and unwavering strength means everything.