Crafting Elastic Masculinity: Formations of Shenti, Intimacy and Kinship among Young Men in China Siyang Cao PhD University of York Women’s Studies January 2018 Abstract Under the ever-deepening transformations in contemporary China, traditional gender relations have been reshaped, but elements of patriarchy informed by the legacy of Confucianism still linger. These intricately interwoven forces have exerted a great impact on the gendered lives of the young generation. This research aims to examine young men’s views of Chinese manhood and how they construct and negotiate masculinities in their everyday lives. I conducted 30 semi-structured in- depth interviews with Chinese men aged between 22 and 32, who are mostly ordinary men in the middle social stratum in Shanghai and Shenyang. I regard Chinese men as actively negotiating their identities within particular stages of their life course. Overall, this thesis is informed by perspectives of relational selfhood and Confucian notions of the relational, reflexive, and embodied self that is an ongoing process of becoming. I bring indigenous concepts and cultural repertoires into critical dialogue with global and leading sociological theories of individualisation and reflexivity. In doing so, I focus on three aspects of these men’s everyday negotiations of masculinity: I consider Chinese young men’s embodied experiences and interactions, through which they create Confucianism-informed masculine selves; I also investigate these men’s practices of intimacy between couples; equally important, I explore how they narrate and create masculinities through kinship ties. Based on these analyses, I introduce and develop the concept of ‘elastic masculinity’. Specifically, I argue that the masculinity of ordinary young men is flexible, adaptable and accommodating. However, the term elastic masculinity also illustrates that it is limited by the availability of resources, structural constraints, cultural traditions and diverse personal relationships. Thus, elastic masculinity is an appropriate metaphor and an important concept to understand Chinese young men’s active engagement with China’s global modernity, increasing individualisation, shifting gender values and local realities. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................. 2 Table of Contents ............................................................................................... 3 List of Tables ...................................................................................................... 6 List of Illustrations .............................................................................................. 7 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ 8 Author’s Declaration ........................................................................................ 10 Chapter 1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 Situating Ordinary Chinese Young Men: Social Transformation, Masculinities and Identity Formation ............................................................... 19 Introduction ................................................................................................. 19 The Transformative Era: Conflicts and Continuities ........................................ 20 Tradition and modernity ................................................................................... 20 Individualism, individualisation and relationality ............................................ 25 Confucianism: official revival and living tradition ............................................ 28 Chinese Masculinities: Diversity and Change ................................................. 31 Historical evolution and continuities ................................................................ 32 Class formation and masculinities: locating ordinary young men ................... 37 The problematic media discourse .................................................................... 42 Identity Formation and Cultural Values ......................................................... 44 Body and shenti ................................................................................................ 44 Families, relationships and intimacy ................................................................ 48 Temporality, narrative identity and kinship ...................................................... 54 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 57 Chapter 3 Researching Young Men in the Chinese Context ................................ 59 Research Design ........................................................................................... 59 Shifting positions: from crisis of masculinity to identity construction ............. 59 Revising research topics ................................................................................... 61 Choosing a research method ............................................................................ 64 3 Locating the research and designing interviews .............................................. 66 Conducting Fieldwork ................................................................................... 69 Recruiting participants: ease and difficulty ...................................................... 69 Heading for the field ......................................................................................... 74 Dealing with unexpected and difficult moments ............................................. 76 Emotional labour .............................................................................................. 80 Power dynamics in the interview...................................................................... 84 Gender relations and gender performance ...................................................... 87 Beyond the dichotomy of insider and outsider ................................................. 90 Transcribing, Coding and Interpreting ........................................................... 93 Drafting and Redrafting: Fieldwork as a Continuous Process ......................... 97 Chapter 4 Making the Chinese Shenti: Body and Embodied Masculinities in Men’s Everyday Lives ................................................................................................ 101 Introduction ............................................................................................... 101 Weighing Du: Bodily Moderation and Regulation ........................................ 102 Identifying a masculine du ............................................................................. 103 Managing problematic du .............................................................................. 111 Practising du in style and fashion ................................................................... 117 Cultivating Li: The Ritualised and Moral Body ............................................. 122 Displaying the ritualised body ........................................................................ 123 Routes towards bodily li ................................................................................. 129 Performing bodily li in the workplace ............................................................. 134 Nurturing He: Embodied Harmony and Relationships .................................. 137 Body work as a filial son ................................................................................. 138 Embodied intimacy and romance ................................................................... 141 Seeking harmony with distinct male shenti ................................................... 145 The rivalry between Northern and Southern men.......................................... 148 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 152 Chapter 5 Good Men Need to be You Dandang: Negotiating Masculinity in Practices of Intimacy ...................................................................................... 155 Introduction ............................................................................................... 155 4 A Pragmatic Framing of Intimacy ................................................................ 157 ‘How can you Marry without Fangzi?’......................................................... 163 You Dandang: Morality, Responsibility and Obligation ................................ 170 Positive Mentality, Egalitarian Relationships and Doing a Man’s Best .......... 179 Ideal Women and Men ............................................................................... 186 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 193 Chapter 6 Handing Down: Making and Narrating Masculinity through Kinship Ties ...................................................................................................................... 196 Introduction ............................................................................................... 196 Learning to be a Man through Kinship Memories ........................................ 198 A Fluctuating Memory Journey ................................................................... 204 Inventing the Present: The Dao of Filial Piety .............................................. 211 Weaving it all into the