GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies QUALITIES OF DESIRE Imagining Gay ldentities in China Lisa Rofel firsippeoberne con g of people now embraces a gay identity.Perhaps Michael Warner's queer planet has spun out its inexorable prophecy,after all.!In the past five years in China,for example,cosmopolitan cities have witnessed a veritable explosion of people who call themselves gay.Semipublic spaces marked gay have proliferated.Beijing has at least five gay bars;weekly salon discussions;a national hotline;books,maga- zines,and videos from abroad;conferences;and informal gatherings in people's homes.Not a few gay men converse with other gay men from all over the world through the Internet.There is renewed attention in China to a concept of justice in the name of sexual desire.And a transnational scene has opened up in Beijing; gay men and a few lesbians from every global corner reside there.Opening China to capitalism has meant,of course,an influx of foreign capital.Beijing feels like many cosmopolitan cities in its vast array and number of international residents and in the rapid reconstruction of its urban landscape.The influx of foreign-born residents has brought not so much gay tourism,which barely exists in China(in contrast to Thailand),as gay men who come to stay. The Chinese women and men who call themselves gay in Beijing have both urban and rural origins;diverse occupations,ranging from factory workers to accountants and computer engineers;educational backgrounds,from high school to Ph.D.;and class positions,from those who use their elite cadre parents'power to acquire for themselves a nouveau riche status to those who see themselves as "ordinary folk"A few have traveled outside China,either as tourists to the sex mecca of Thailand(in their imagined sexual geography)or as students to North America and Europe in pursuit of advanced degrees.Yet one characteristic marks the women and men who describe themselves as gay:they are predominantly young-thirty or under.Their narrow age range means that most of them came of age after socialism had been dismantled in China. GLQ 5:4 Pp.451-474 Copyright 1999 by Duke University Press Published by Duke University Press
QUALITIES OF DESIRE Imagining Gay Identities in China Lisa Rofel At first blush, it appears to be a foregone conclusion that a global convergence of people now embraces a gay identity. Perhaps Michael Warner’s queer planet has spun out its inexorable prophecy, after all.1 In the past five years in China, for example, cosmopolitan cities have witnessed a veritable explosion of people who call themselves gay. Semipublic spaces marked guy have proliferated. Beijing has at least five gay bars; weekly salon discussions; a national hotline; books, magazines, and videos from abroad; conferences; and informal gatherings in people’s homes. Not a few gay men converse with other gay men from all over the world through the Internet. There is renewed attention in China to a concept of justice in the name of sexual desire. And a transnational scene has opened up in Beijing; gay men and a few lesbians from every global corner reside there. Opening China to capitalism has meant, of course, an influx of foreign capital. Beijing feels like many cosmopolitan cities in its vast array and number of international residents and in the rapid reconstruction of its urban landscape. The influx of foreign-born residents has brought not so much gay tourism, which barely exists in China (in contrast to Thailand), as gay men who come to stay. The Chinese women and men who call themselves gay in Beijing have both urban and rural origins; diverse occupations, ranging from factory workers to accountants and computer engineers; educational backgrounds, from high school to Ph.D.; and class positions, from those who use their elite cadre parents’ power to acquire for themselves a nouveau riche status to those who see themselves as “ordinary folk.” A few have traveled outside China, either as tourists to the sex mecca of Thailand (in their imagined sexual geography) or as students to North America and Europe in pursuit of advanced degrees. Yet one characteristic marks the women and men who describe themselves as gay: they are predominantly young-thirty or under. Their narrow age range means that most of them came of age after socialism had been dismantled in China. CLQ 5:4 pp. 451-474 Copyright 0 1999 by Duke University Press GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press
GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 452 GLQ:A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES Perhaps the following caveat is superfluous:the argument I present here does not eschew the fact that older women and men engage in homoerotic sex,nor does it promote the idea that people only now have a desire for or engage in sex- ual acts with someone of presumably the same gender.But what seems strikingly different in the 1990s is the construction of an identity around these acts.Listen to these remarks by a forty-year-old friend of mine in China who began to call himself gay five years ago: [Other gay men]don't have time to talk with you.They just want a 'sex relation.2"Let's find a place,hurry up,and fuck."...For many years this problem has made my head ache.To be a 'gay,'they [other gay men]are not capable of recognizing what,finally,it is all about.What should one need? This [question]gives other people an especially bad feeling:[imitating a voice ofdisapproval]"You people,all you want is a'sex relation'with other people.You aren't able to think about anything else."So I was like that, too.But after a period of time,I didn't especially want to go [to the park]. Also,I myself thought,as I was getting more mature and more cultured [wenhua],that 'gay'should have a culture [wenhua];it is a kind of culture. The emergence of gay identities and practices in China is tied,in certain critical respects,to transnational networks of lesbians and gay men.The initiation in 1994 of work on AIDS,with specific outreach to gay men,by one courageous individual who was subsequently sacked by the government led to networking both in and out- side China.The arrival of hundreds of lesbians from around the world at the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Women's Conference,held in Beijing,also galvanized semipublic explorations of gay identities.The opening of the national gay hotline in China in the summer of 1997 by a diverse group of Chinese and Western gay men dramatically enabled conversations across China and the world.The presence of for- eign gay men and lesbians in China who both create and participate in gay networks means that the transnational quality of gayness in China is both visible and visceral. Not all Chinese women and men who identify as gay pass through these transnational spaces.Many deliberately stay away,either because they are wary of foreigners or because they believe that these spaces are themselves tainted with unrespectability.Some find it impossible to have equal or deep relationships with foreigners.Lou Wei,a twenty-five-year-old trained in business economics,told me in an interview that"foreigners are using Chinese people.If the police were to surround the [cafe],you have a foreigner's passport.Who takes responsibility?If, for example,they find something written on human rights,who takes responsibil- Published by Duke University Press
452 GLQ: A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES Perhaps the following caveat is superfluous: the argument I present here does not eschew the fact that older women and men engage in homoerotic sex, nor does it promote the idea that people only now have a desire for or engage in sexual acts with someone of presumably the same gender. But what seems strikingly different in the 1990s is the construction of an identity around these acts. Listen to these remarks by a forty-year-old friend of mine in China who began to call himself gay five years ago: [Other gay men] don’t have time to talk with you. They just want a ‘sex relation.’2 “Let’s find a place, hurry up, and fuck.” . . . For many years this problem has made my head ache. To be a ‘gay,’ they [other gay men] are not capable of recognizing what, finally, it is all about. What should one need? This [question] gives other people an especially bad feeling: [imitating a voice of disapproval] “You people, all you want is a ‘sex relation’ with other people. You aren’t able to think about anything else.” So I was like that, too. But after a period of time, I didn’t especially want to go [to the park]. Also, I myself thought, as I was getting more mature and more cultured [wenhua], that ‘gay’ should have a culture [wenhua]; it is a kind of culture. The emergence of gay identities and practices in China is tied, in certain critical respects, to transnational networks of lesbians and gay men. The initiation in 1994 of work on AIDS, with specific outreach to gay men, by one courageous individual who was subsequently sacked by the government led to networking both in and outside China. The arrival of hundreds of lesbians from around the world at the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Women’s Conference, held in Beijing, also galvanized semipublic explorations of gay identities. The opening of the national gay hotline in China in the summer of 1997 by a diverse group of Chinese and Western gay men dramatically enabled conversations across China and the world. The presence of foreign gay men and lesbians in China who both create and participate in gay networks means that the transnational quality of gayness in China is both visible and visceral. Not all Chinese women and men who identify as gay pass through these transnational spaces. Many deliberately stay away, either because they are wary of foreigners or because they believe that these spaces are themselves tainted with unrespectability. Some find it impossible to have equal or deep relationships with foreigners. Lou Wei, a twenty-five-year-old trained in business economics, told me in an interview that “foreigners are using Chinese people. If the police were to surround the [cafk], you have a foreigner’s passport. Who takes responsibility? If, for example, they find something written on human rights, who takes responsibilGLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press
GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies IMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 453 ity?It devolves onto everyone Chinese."Conversely,not all foreign gay men who live in Beijing want to be with Chinese men.Some rarely have erotic interchanges with Chinese men.Other gay foreigners lead lives reminiscent of colonialism, occasionally engaging with native Chinese men as sexual partners but having little interest in what the encounter means for these men.This transnational scene is not,in any case,simply about bodies marked by nation and race that mingle indiscriminately.Most important,these interactions are embodied ways of per- forming gayness,and they entail competing notions of what it means to be gay. Still,the temptation to conclude that a singular"global gay identity"has come into existence and that China offers one more instantiation of it appears vir- tually irresistible.This article is an effort to forestall the rush toward a discourse of globalization,or at least to reconfigure our understanding of sex and globaliza- tion.My concern is at once theoretical and political.The manner in which we imagine transcultural processes of identification shapes the kinds of alliances we create-or fail to create-to address the protean forms of homophobia around the world and,in related fashion,the culturally specific normalizations imposed through sex.I begin,then,with a deliberately provocative problematic:what kinds of investments lead to the assumption that such a subjectivity-a global gay identity -exists?To address that problematic,I examine one prominent assertion of this position,Dennis Altman's"Global Gaze/Global Gays."I then argue that the emer- gence of gay identities in China occurs in a complex cultural field representing neither a wholly global culture nor simply a radical difference from the West. Rather,Chinese gay identities materialize in the articulation of transcultural prac- tices with intense desires for cultural belonging,or cultural citizenship,in China.3 This articulation leads to doublings in which globality is haunted by reminders of cultural difference even as desires for the phantasms of cultural belonging face the spectral undoing of discourses launched in the name of globalization. Thus Chinese gay men index neither another exemplar of a global gay identity nor mere local particularity.4 Transcultural processes of gay identification shape the contours of cultural citizenship in China for gay men;conversely, desires for cultural belonging shape the way in which gay men in China construct the meaning of transcultural practices of sex,desire,and sexual identities.In developing this argument,I wed Foucault to anthropology,linking questions about the relationship of knowledge,sex,and truth and the historical contingencies of sexual identities to analyses that problematize culture and space.5 Drawing one map of a sexual "geography of imagination,"to paraphrase Jacqueline Nassy Brown,I hope to invert the premises of sex and globalization that have so quickly colonized our imaginations.6 Published by Duke University Press
IMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 453 ity? It devolves onto everyone Chinese.” Conversely, not all foreign gay men who live in Beijing want to be with Chinese men. Some rarely have erotic interchanges with Chinese men. Other gay foreigners lead lives reminiscent of colonialism, occasionally engaging with native Chinese men as sexual partners but having little interest in what the encounter means for these men. This transnational scene is not, in any case, simply about bodies marked by nation and race that mingle indiscriminately. Most important, these interactions are embodied ways of performing gayness, and they entail competing notions of what it means to be gay. Still, the temptation to conclude that a singular “global gay identity” has come into existence and that China offers one more instantiation of it appears virtually irresistible. This article is an effort to forestall the rush toward a discourse of globalization, or at least to reconfigure our understanding of sex and globalization. My concern is at once theoretical and political. The manner in which we imagine transcultural processes of identification shapes the kinds of alliances we create-or fail to create-to address the protean forms of homophobia around the world and, in related fashion, the culturally specific normalizations imposed through sex. I begin, then, with a deliberately provocative problematic: what kinds of investments lead to the assumption that such a subjectivity-a global gay identity -exists? To address that problematic, I examine one prominent assertion of this position, Dennis Altman’s “Global Gaze/Global Gays.” I then argue that the emergence of gay identities in China occurs in a complex cultural field representing neither a wholly global culture nor simply a radical difference from the West. Rather, Chinese gay identities materialize in the articulation of transcultural practices with intense desires for cultural belonging, or cultural citizenship, in China.3 This articulation leads to doublings in which globality is haunted by reminders of cultural difference even as desires for the phantasms of cultural belonging face the spectral undoing of discourses launched in the name of globalization. Thus Chinese gay men index neither another exemplar of a global gay identity nor mere local particularity.4 Transcultural processes of gay identification shape the contours of cultural citizenship in China for gay men; conversely, desires for cultural belonging shape the way in which gay men in China construct the meaning of transcultural practices of sex, desire, and sexual identities. In developing this argument, I wed Foucault to anthropology, linking questions about the relationship of knowledge, sex, and truth and the historical contingencies of sexual identities to analyses that problematize culture and space.5 Drawing one map of a sexual “geography of imagination,” to paraphrase Jacqueline Nassy Brown, I hope to invert the premises of sex and globalization that have so quickly colonized our imaginations.6 GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press
GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 454 GLO:A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES Gay Western Origin Stories Before turning directly to China,I clear some conceptual space for future discus- sion by taking a detour through arguments that assume a global gay identity.One such argument is Dennis Altman's"Global Gaze/Global Gays."I address Altman not because I find his essay the most exemplary but because his position in gay politics has enabled him to garner a large audience.Moreover,I believe that we share a concern with building alliances that do not quash diversity. Altman addresses"the emergence of a western-style politicized homosex- uality in Asia"His essay purports to demonstrate that the ubiquity of Western rhetoric means that many Asian gay men describe their realities and their own feelings through this rhetoric.Altman alludes to the problem of Western gay theo- rists and activists positing the universality of an identity that developed out of cer- tain historical specificities.Yet this initial recognition quickly recedes as he advances the claim that the universality of gay identities is emerging most signifi- cantly among groups in Asia.To make sense of his proposition,Altman places dif- ferent sex/gender orders in Asia on a continuum from tradition to modernity.While acknowledging their coexistence,he denies their coevalness,placing the forms that are culturally marked for him into the category of the traditional and the ones that approach what he conceives of as "western-style"into the category of the modern.Altman then concludes that in Asia"self-identified homosexuals"view themselves as part of a"global community"whose commonalities override cul- tural differences.7 For the most part,.Altman invokes“modern'”and“western-style'”as tropes whose content is self-evident.At various points,however,he alludes to the charac- teristics of what constitutes a presumably universal gay identity:it contests sexual rather than gender norms;replaces the idea of male homosexuals as would-be women with new self-concepts;leads to primary homosexual relationships rather than to marriage with homosex on the side;expresses sexual identity openly; develops a public gay political consciousness(422-23);and creates a sense of community based on sexuality. Significantly,while Altman stresses the global,he never questions the fact of globalization or how to represent it.He merely reads globalization as the spread of Western models of homosexuality.This reading allows for a contradictory con- clusion.Rejecting,on the one hand,the idea that"modern"homosexuality in Asia can be understood in terms of"cultural tradition"and allowing that new gay groups in Asia will "adapt"ideas of universal discourse and Western identity to create something new,Altman concludes,on the other,that the "claiming of Published by Duke University Press
454 GLQ: A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES Gay Western Origin Stories Before turning directly to China, I clear some conceptual space for future discussion by taking a detour through arguments that assume a global gay identity. One such argument is Dennis Altman’s “Global Gaze/Global Gays.” I address Altman not because I find his essay the most exemplary but because his position in gay politics has enabled him to garner a large audience. Moreover, I believe that we share a concern with building alliances that do not quash diversity. Altman addresses “the emergence of a western-style politicized homosexuality in Asia.” His essay purports to demonstrate that the ubiquity of Western rhetoric means that many Asian gay men describe their realities and their own feelings through this rhetoric. Altman alludes to the problem of Western gay theorists and activists positing the universality of an identity that developed out of certain historical specificities. Yet this initial recognition quickly recedes as he advances the claim that the universality of gay identities is emerging most significantly among groups in Asia. To make sense of his proposition, Altman places different sex/gender orders in Asia on a continuum from tradition to modernity. While acknowledging their coexistence, he denies their coevalness, placing the forms that are culturally marked for him into the category of the traditional and the ones that approach what he conceives of as “western-style” into the category of the modern. Altman then concludes that in Asia “self-identified homosexuals” view themselves as part of a “global community” whose commonalities override cultural differences.7 For the most part, Altman invokes “modern” and “western-style” as tropes whose content is self-evident. At various points, however, he alludes to the characteristics of what constitutes a presumably universal gay identity: it contests sexual rather than gender norms; replaces the idea of male homosexuals as would-be women with new self-concepts; leads to primary homosexual relationships rather than to marriage with homosex on the side; expresses sexual identity openly; develops a public gay political consciousness (422-23); and creates a sense of community based on sexuality. Significantly, while Altman stresses the global, he never questions the fact of globalization or how to represent it. He merely reads globalization as the spread of Western models of homosexuality. This reading allows for a contradictory conclusion. Rejecting, on the one hand, the idea that “modern” homosexuality in Asia can be understood in terms of “cultural tradition” and allowing that new gay groups in Asia will “adapt” ideas of universal discourse and Western identity to create something new, Altman concludes, on the other, that the “claiming of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press
GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies IMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 4.55 lesbian/gay identities in Asia or Latin America is as much about being western as about sexuality"(430). Altman's rhetorical strategy might be reduced to a mere problem of contra- diction.Yet the predicament of his argument lies more profoundly in the ambiva- lence of his desire:to assert cultural diversity and the need to respect it while also recuperating identification in a monumentalist history of gay identity,and,con- versely,to further gay rights yet,in pursuing this goal,to elide diversity,articula- tion,and alliance with radical cultural difference,thereby occluding the fault lines of power that emerge in global gay discourses and practices.Four lines of critique,then,suggest themselves:the dynamics of colonial discourse that struc- ture Altman's argument;his concept of culture;his understanding of meaning and referentiality;and,finally,his vision of globalization or universalisms. First,Altman draws lines of radical cultural difference between the West and Asia.His occasional rhetorical gestures to the contrary fade away because he has no way to incorporate them into the main framework of his argument.Altman states,"On the one hand,Asian gay men,by stressing a universal gay identity, underline a similarity with westerners.Against this,on the other hand,the desire to assert an 'Asian'identity,not unlike the rhetoric of the 'Asian way'adopted by authoritarian regimes such as those of China,Indonesia,and Malaysia,may undermine this assumed solidarity"(418-19).Asianness,or a reputed claim to Asianness,can never be more than a distraction,a power move,or a distortion from the originary truths of gayness.Thus gay men in Asia can be either universal or Asian but not both,even as their Asianness continues to leave them in the place of otherness to global gayness.Altman's Western origin story of gay liberation places Asian gays forever in the place of deferred arrival.8 This universalization of particular stories of gay liberation establishes temporal hierarchies that,ironically, forget that the West is an imaginary location that can interpret its located concerns as a world-historical origin point.For Altman,invocations of universalism,whether by Westerners or by Asians,appear to be self-evident and self-referential rather than rhetorical strategy,double-voiced dialogism,the locational politics of repre- sentation,or strategic essentialism. Altman's concept of culture similarly derives from colonial anthropology. One might almost say that he offers a parody of the notion of culture as timeless, bounded,homogeneous,and unchanging.Only a radical imposition of modernity from the outside seems to change these Asian cultures.Moreover,to paraphrase Renato Rosaldo,there appears to be a"stepladder"version of culture and moder- nity here such that the more one looks like the West,the more one sheds any markers of culture.9 The critique of this notion is so well rehearsed in anthropol- Published by Duke University Press
IMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 455 lesbian/gay identities in Asia or Latin America is as much about being western as about sexuality” (430). Altman’s rhetorical strategy might be reduced to a mere problem of contradiction. Yet the predicament of his argument lies more profoundly in the ambivalence of his desire: to assert cultural diversity and the need to respect it while also recuperating identification in a monumentalist history of gay identity, and, conversely, to further gay rights yet, in pursuing this goal, to elide diversity, articulation, and alliance with radical cultural difference, thereby occluding the fault lines of power that emerge in global gay discourses and practices. Four lines of critique, then, suggest themselves: the dynamics of colonial discourse that structure Altman’s argument; his concept of culture; his understanding of meaning and referentiality ; and, finally, his vision of globalization or universalisms. First, Altman draws lines of radical cultural difference between the West and Asia. His occasional rhetorical gestures to the contrary fade away because he has no way to incorporate them into the main framework of his argument. Altman states, “On the one hand, Asian gay men, by stressing a universal gay identity, underline a similarity with Westerners. Against this, on the other hand, the desire to assert an ‘Asian’ identity, not unlike the rhetoric of the ‘Asian way’ adopted by authoritarian regimes such as those of China, Indonesia, and Malaysia, may undermine this assumed solidarity” (418-19). Asianness, or a reputed claim to Asianness, can never be more than a distraction, a power move, or a distortion from the originary truths of gayness. Thus gay men in Asia can be either universal or Asian but not both, even as their Asianness continues to leave them in the place of otherness to global gayness. Altman’s Western origin story of gay liberation places Asian gays forever in the place of deferred arrival.8 This universalization of particular stories of gay liberation establishes temporal hierarchies that, ironically, forget that the West is an imaginary location that can interpret its located concerns as a world-historical origin point. For Altman, invocations of universalism, whether by Westerners or by Asians, appear to be self-evident and self-referential rather than rhetorical strategy, double-voiced dialogism, the locational politics of representation, or strategic essentialism. Altman’s concept of culture similarly derives from colonial anthropology. One might almost say that he offers a parody of the notion of culture as timeless, bounded, homogeneous, and unchanging. Only a radical imposition of modernity from the outside seems to change these Asian cultures. Moreover, to paraphrase Renato Rosaldo, there appears to be a “stepladder” version of culture and modernity here such that the more one looks like the West, the more one sheds any markers of culture.9 The critique of this notion is so well rehearsed in anthropolGLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press
GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 4.56 GLQ:A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES ogy and cultural studies that I need point out only that Altman's conception of cul- ture is undergirded by an imperial political economy of the sign that renders meaning stable and solidly referential.We all know what people mean when they call themselves gay or engage in gay practices,because there can be only one,uni- fied meaning.This aspect of Altman's argument is especially ironic because his list of stable signs of a gay identity and his examples of a public gay consciousness are at this moment in the United States fueling an intense debate among gay men and lesbians precisely over their appropriateness for gay people. Certainly,I do not wish to deny the coming into existence in recent years of commitments to gay identifications or to gay liberation that extend beyond national and cultural borders.On the contrary,I fear that the following discussion on cosmopolitan gay life in Beijing will disappoint some in queer studies who seek a cultural logic of absolute difference-and turn to anthropologists to provide it.Io To move toward a study of transcultural practices,we need to emphasize the com- plexity of cultural production in the interactions of the West and non-West-with attention,that is,to transcultural practices and representations.1 We might begin by following how postcolonial scholars,anthropologists, and those in cultural studies have reconfigured the concept of culture in the last two decades.These scholars approach culture not as a set of shared meanings found in a bounded space but as ongoing discursive practices with sedimented histories that mark relations of power.Thus it becomes important to attend to how, by whom,and in what context "Chinese culture,"for example,is invoked-that is,to the discursive effects of Chinese culture as an object of knowledge in (neo-) orientalist geopolitics as well as in specific power-saturated contexts in China. Additionally,it becomes critical to examine how people live out these imagined invocations of culture-how they are pulled into normalizing practices that estab- lish hegemonic cultural logics kept in place by ongoing iterations even as these logics reveal traces of displacements,instabilities,and engaged resistances The relationship between culture and space has also been reconfigured. Rather than assume that locality is an ahistorical given-that space exists outside meaning (or that we forget the meanings given by the nation-state)-or assume ihat“the local'”and“the global”refer to transparent spatial arrangements.,we might conceive of it,to quote Brown,"as the power-laden symbolization process itself:the production of frameworks for defining and debating the edges and outer bounds of processes,practices and phenomena."12 The local and the global are both acts of positioning,perspectives rather than mere locales,used as signifiers of difference.The local,rather than a synonym for particularity,is a spatial cate- gory given meaning through specific signifying practices.13 Similarly,the global Published by Duke University Press
456 GLQ: A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES ogy and cultural studies that I need point out only that Altman’s conception of culture is undergirded by an imperial political economy of the sign that renders meaning stable and solidly referential. We all know what people mean when they call themselves gay or engage in gay practices, because there can be only one, unified meaning. This aspect of Altman’s argument is especially ironic because his list of stable signs of a gay identity and his examples of a public gay consciousness are at this moment in the United States fueling an intense debate among gay men and lesbians precisely over their appropriateness for gay people. Certainly, I do not wish to deny the coming into existence in recent years of commitments to gay identifications or to gay liberation that extend beyond national and cultural borders. On the contrary, I fear that the following discussion on cosmopolitan gay life in Beijing will disappoint some in queer studies who seek a cultural logic of absolute difference-and turn to anthropologists to provide it.l0 To move toward a study of transcultural practices, we need to emphasize the complexity of cultural production in the interactions of the West and non-West-with attention, that is, to transcultural practices and representations. 11 We might begin by following how postcolonial scholars, anthropologists, and those in cultural studies have reconfigured the concept of culture in the last two decades. These scholars approach culture not as a set of shared meanings found in a bounded space but as ongoing discursive practices with sedimented histories that mark relations of power. Thus it becomes important to attend to how, by whom, and in what context “Chinese culture,” for example, is invoked-that is, to the discursive effects of Chinese culture as an object of knowledge in (neo-) orientalist geopolitics as well as in specific power-saturated contexts in China. Additionally, it becomes critical to examine how people live out these imagined invocations of culture- how they are pulled into normalizing practices that establish hegemonic cultural logics kept in place by ongoing iterations even as these logics reveal traces of displacements, instabilities, and engaged resistances. The relationship between culture and space has also been reconfigured. Rather than assume that locality is an ahistorical given- that space exists outside meaning (or that we forget the meanings given by the nation-state)-or assume that “the local” and “the global” refer to transparent spatial arrangements, we might conceive of it, to quote Brown, “as the power-laden symbolization process itself: the production of frameworks for defining and debating the edges and outer bounds of processes, practices and phenomena.”’Z The local and the global are both acts of positioning, perspectives rather than mere locales, used as signifiers of difference. The local, rather than a synonym for particularity, is a spatial category given meaning through specific signifying practices.Iq’3 Similarly, the global GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press
GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies IMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 457 does not exist above and beyond the cultural processes of attaching meaning to places.Far from a deterritorialized phenomenon,it has been discursively pro- duced in various contexts and has taken on specific imaginative appeals of which we might want to be wary.14 This approach to culture and space might help us move beyond invocations of similitude versus difference in our discussions of cosmopolitan gay identities outside the West.It also moves in tandem with approaches that view gayness not as autonomous but as an imaginary site that stabilizes heterosexual identity,a "flamboyant'difference,'"in David M.Halperin's words,that"deflects attention from the contradictions inherent in the construction of heterosexuality."5 To com- prehend sexual identities in places outside the United States,then,entails exam- ining how they articulate with discursive productions of culture and place. In what follows I propose to trace not a singular global gay identity but a social process of discrepant transcultural practices.My analysis emphasizes artic- ulation,between Chinese gay men's desires for cultural belonging in China and transcultural gay identifications,in which these men nonetheless continuously dis- cern and imagine differences compelled by China's colonial and socialist political histories with other nations.16 Transcultural practices resist interpretation in terms of either global impact or self-explanatory indigenous evolution.Instead,they open inquiry into contingent processes and performative evocations that do not presume equivalence but ask after confrontations charged with claims to power. Cultural Citizenship To be sure,what it means to be gay in 1990s China is nothing if not about crossing cultural and national borders.Yet to understand the transcultural nature of gay life in China,we must begin with the simple question that Altman never asks:what motivates women and men in China to seek out,with some urgency,what it means to be gay in other places?What has allowed gayness to emerge more visibly in China that cannot be reduced to the presumably inexorable power of global flows of images and ideas?And what do Chinese gay men do with the representations of gayness that they receive or seek from foreigners? The answers lie in the realm of cultural citizenship.In postsocialist China culture has replaced politics as the site on which citizenship is meaningfully defined,sought,and conferred or denied.By cultural citizenship I mean to high- light how citizenship,or belonging,is not merely a political attribute but also a process in which culture becomes a relevant category of affinity.It is a process of self-making and of being made,of active modes of affinity as well as techniques of Published by Duke University Press
IMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 457 does not exist above and beyond the cultural processes of attaching meaning to places. Far from a deterritorialized phenomenon, it has been discursively produced in various contexts and has taken on specific imaginative appeals of which we might want to be wary.14 This approach to culture and space might help us move beyond invocations of similitude versus difference in our discussions of cosmopolitan gay identities outside the West. It also moves in tandem with approaches that view gayness not as autonomous but as an imaginary site that stabilizes heterosexual identity, a “flamboyant ‘difference,’ ” in David M. Halperin’s words, that “deflects attention from the contradictions inherent in the construction of heterosexuality.”ls To comprehend sexual identities in places outside the United States, then, entails examining how they articulate with discursive productions of culture and place. In what follows I propose to trace not a singular global gay identity but a social process of discrepant transcultural practices. My analysis emphasizes articulation, between Chinese gay men’s desires for cultural belonging in China and transcultural gay identifications, in which these men nonetheless continuously discern and imagine differences compelled by China’s colonial and socialist political histories with other nations. l6 Transcultural practices resist interpretation in terms of either global impact or self-explanatory indigenous evolution. Instead, they open inquiry into contingent processes and performative evocations that do not presume equivalence but ask after confrontations charged with claims to power. Cultural Citizenship To be sure, what it means to be gay in 1990s China is nothing if not about crossing cultural and national borders. Yet to understand the transcultural nature of gay life in China, we must begin with the simple question that Altman never asks: what motivates women and men in China to seek out, with some urgency, what it means to be gay in other places? What has allowed gayness to emerge more visibly in China that cannot be reduced to the presumably inexorable power of global flows of images and ideas? And what do Chinese gay men do with the representations of gayness that they receive or seek from foreigners? The answers lie in the realm of cultural citizenship. In postsocialist China culture has replaced politics as the site on which citizenship is meaningfully defined, sought, and conferred or denied. By culturd citizenship I mean to highlight how citizenship, or belonging, is not merely a political attribute but also a process in which culture becomes a relevant category of affinity. It is a process of self-making and of being made, of active modes of affinity as well as techniques of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press
GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 458 GLQ:A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES normalization.17 Cultural citizenship is a rubric or trope I use to convey novel processes of subjectification,new modes of inclusion and exclusion,and new forms of governmentality.Struggles over cultural citizenship are contests over new schemes of hierarchical difference,over who represents the cultural competence to carry China into the twenty-first century and to create wealth and power for the nation under transnational capitalism.Cultural citizenship also signals blurred borders with Hong Kong and Taiwan and with "overseas"Chinese in Southeast Asia and the West.18 Sex is a critical site where the normalizations of cultural citi- zenship are being reformulated.If the passion to pursue the meaningfulness of sex- ual desire propels Chinese men into transnational networks,it also lies at the heart of cultural citizenship.Cultural citizenship,rather than legal subjectivity or psy- chological personality,establishes proper and improper sex in postsocialist China. Throughout the twentieth century the category of sex in China has been the site of cultural production in discrepant dialogue with Western power.In postso- cialist China of the 1990s,various Chinese cultural producers narrate alternative visions of the universal human as well as modes of cultural belonging through the category of sex.What I term the allegory of postsocialism tells a story of how com- munism repressed human nature:Maoism deferred China's reach of modernity, against the specter of colonial representations of Chinese culture as what sup- pressed individuation and therefore the capacity to produce modern selves.It did so by impeding Chinese people's ability to express their natural humanity,which lay,all along,beneath the cultural politics of socialism.Diverse public discourses now put forth the view that the end of socialism meant that human nature- whether the human nature of the neoliberal free market economy or of gender traditionalism-had emerged to find its freedom of expression.This allegory holds out the promise that people can unshackle their innate human selves by emancipating themselves from the socialist state. Of course,"natural"humanity is gendered and sexed.The allegory implies a rejection of socialism's version of women's liberation and an anchoring of human nature in sexual difference,conjugal love,and hypervirile masculinity.It also implies the overt and self-conscious expression of a range of sexual desires that, paradoxically,both subvert and uphold normalization.China has witnessed the emergence of a bourgeoisie whose quest to mark its distinctiveness and justify its wealth involves the cultivation of bourgeois bodies,tastes,rights,freedoms,and desires.This emergence,tied to a desire for postsocialist humanity,has compli- cated the field of sex and its normalizations,for the bourgeoisie hopes to overcome the colonial division of particularity versus universalism that has haunted China since the early twentieth century. Published by Duke University Press
458 GLQ: A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES normalization.17 Cultural citizenship is a rubric or trope I use to convey novel processes of subjectification, new modes of inclusion and exclusion, and new forms of governmentality. Struggles over cultural citizenship are contests over new schemes of hierarchical difference, over who represents the cultural competence to carry China into the twenty-first century and to create wealth and power for the nation under transnational capitalism. Cultural citizenship also signals blurred borders with Hong Kong and Taiwan and with “overseas” Chinese in Southeast Asia and the West.18 Sex is a critical site where the normalizations of cultural citizenship are being reformulated. If the passion to pursue the meaningfulness of sexual desire propels Chinese men into transnational networks, it also lies at the heart of cultural citizenship. Cultural citizenship, rather than legal subjectivity or psychological personality, establishes proper and improper sex in postsocialist China. Throughout the twentieth century the category of sex in China has been the site of cultural production in discrepant dialogue with Western power. In postsocialist China of the 1990s, various Chinese cultural producers narrate alternative visions of the universal human as well as modes of cultural belonging through the category of sex. What I term the allegory of postsocialism tells a story of how communism repressed human nature: Maoism deferred China’s reach of modernity, against the specter of colonial representations of Chinese culture as what suppressed individuation and therefore the capacity to produce modern selves. It did so by impeding Chinese people’s ability to express their natural humanity, which lay, all along, beneath the cultural politics of socialism. Diverse public discourses now put forth the view that the end of socialism meant that human naturewhether the human nature of the neoliberal free market economy or of gender traditionalism- had emerged to find its freedom of expression. This allegory holds out the promise that people can unshackle their innate human selves by emancipating themselves from the socialist state. Of course, “natural” humanity is gendered and sexed. The allegory implies a rejection of socialism’s version of women’s liberation and an anchoring of human nature in sexual difference, conjugal love, and hypervirile masculinity. It also implies the overt and self-conscious expression of a range of sexual desires that, paradoxically, both subvert and uphold normalization. China has witnessed the emergence of a bourgeoisie whose quest to mark its distinctiveness and justify its wealth involves the cultivation of bourgeois bodies, tastes, rights, freedoms, and desires. This emergence, tied to a desire for postsocialist humanity, has complicated the field of sex and its normalizations, for the bourgeoisie hopes to overcome the colonial division of particularity versus universalism that has haunted China since the early twentieth century. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press
GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies IMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 459 Thus human nature is one trope through which many in China hope to move beyond the belatedness that socialism represents in the post-cold war era.At times,seemingly confirming Altman's observation,gay men in mainland China invoke an unmarked universalism of gay identity.For gay men,this terrain appears to hold out great promise,as well as potential danger.The promise lies in using the notion of a gay human nature in China to forestall the installation of homopho- bic normalizing techniques.The danger,of course,is that fixing an essential gay nature will not eliminate normalizing punishments but will merely install more insidious techniques for carrying them out.In either case,the universal human- ness of homosexuality does not preclude a concern with Chineseness,for the very emphasis on universality makes sense only in a conversation about what Chinese- ness might mean. At the moment,the government has no law prohibiting homosexuality per se.Under socialism,homoerotic sex,together with a broad range of actions con- demned as immoral and antisocial-as well as antisocialist-was swept under the rubric of“hooliganism,”or activities that involved“roaming”beyond appro- priate social borders or relations.The government has recently excised this cate- gory,partly,I suspect,because of its associations with socialism but also because sweeping social activity out of public space no longer makes sense.Thus sex,once a political crime,has been redefined as a crime against social nature.The "sex criminal"has appeared as a figure in the law and psychology,but the label refers not at all to homoerotic activity.(This figure is most often arrested for rape,exhi- bitionism,and voyeurism.)19 This does not mean that gay life in China follows a carefree course.Gov- ernment officials have periodically invoked "public morality"to close bars,shut down publications,and arrest people.This form of repression should not be mis- taken for a special type of "communist"repression but rather should be seen as quite similar to what continues to happen in the United States.Police harassment, for example,often slides into garden-variety corruption.Social disapprobation is keenly felt.Finally,cognizance of what the government might do-and power always works most effectively in its phantasmic presence-absence effect-makes people careful about how to organize.The state has provisions covering anything that might be construed to threaten its interests,including public social organiza- tions.Yet unlike gay men in the United States,gay men in China do not face ran- dom street violence. Cultural affinity is as compelling a project for gay men in China as for everyone else.Thus their invocations of a global gayness articulate with the need to place themselves within Chinese culture in temporal,spatial,linguistic,and Published by Duke University Press
IMAGINING GAY IDENTITIES IN CHINA 459 Thus human nature is one trope through which many in China hope to move beyond the belatedness that socialism represents in the post-cold war era. At times, seemingly confirming Altman’s observation, gay men in mainland China invoke an unmarked universalism of gay identity. For gay men, this terrain appears to hold out great promise, as well as potential danger. The promise lies in using the notion of a gay human nature in China to forestall the installation of homophobic normalizing techniques. The danger, of course, is that fixing an essential gay nature will not eliminate normalizing punishments but will merely install more insidious techniques for carrying them out. In either case, the universal humanness of homosexuality does not preclude a concern with Chineseness, for the very emphasis on universality makes sense only in a conversation about what Chineseness might mean. At the moment, the government has no law prohibiting homosexuality per se. Under socialism, homoerotic sex, together with a broad range of actions condemned as immoral and antisocial-as well as antisocialist-was swept under the rubric of “hooliganism,” or activities that involved “roaming” beyond appropriate social borders or relations. The government has recently excised this category, partly, I suspect, because of its associations with socialism but also because sweeping social activity out of public space no longer makes sense. Thus sex, once a political crime, has been redefined as a crime against social nature. The “sex criminal” has appeared as a figure in the law and psychology, but the label refers not at all to homoerotic activity. (This figure is most often arrested for rape, exhibitionism, and voyeurism.)l9 This does not mean that gay life in China follows a carefree course. Government officials have periodically invoked “public morality” to close bars, shut down publications, and arrest people. This form of repression should not be mistaken for a special type of “communist” repression but rather should be seen as quite similar to what continues to happen in the United States. Police harassment, for example, often slides into garden-variety corruption. Social disapprobation is keenly felt. Finally, cognizance of what the government might do-and power always works most effectively in its phantasmic presence-absence effect -makes people careful about how to organize. The state has provisions covering anything that might be construed to threaten its interests, including public social organizations. Yet unlike gay men in the United States, gay men in China do not face random street violence. Cultural affinity is as compelling a project for gay men in China as for everyone else. Thus their invocations of a global gayness articulate with the need to place themselves within Chinese culture in temporal, spatial, linguistic, and GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press
GLQ:A Joumal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 460 GLQ:A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES substantive terms.I turn to three moments in which these articulations have appeared:debates about family and kinship,appropriations of linguistic terminol- ogy,and the semiotic practices of the term quality that have led to divisions among gay men.Each of these moments displays specific and different kinds of transcul- tural articulations,none of which can be reduced to a global gay identity. Gay Kinship It was a Saturday afternoon,and the weekly salon had begun.Men and women had been drifting into the discreet cafe on the west side of the city for two hours.Many were Beijing residents and regulars at the salon,but each week brought a few new faces,often men from out of town who traveled to Beijing on business for one of the proliferating number of capitalist companies seeking larger networks or govern- ment favors in the capital.They learned about the salon from the national gay hot- line that operates out of Beijing.Somehow everyone packed into the one-room cafe,and by the time the discussion began there were about twenty participants, most of them young men.The gay cafe owner,Mr.Wu,welcomes the salon and does not mind doing business besides.Groups of three and four pored over the lat- est cache of magazines and books that foreigners(including myself)had brought from the United States,England,or Hong Kong,as well as information down- loaded from the Internet in China.Xiaolan,an economist who holds a high-level government post and knows how to run a meeting,called the group to order.She asked everyone to introduce themselves.The newcomers were nervous,for intro- ducing oneself is a virtual admission that erotic interest in one's own gender has propelled one into the room.(It is also an astute way to assess who might be there for other reasons.)While everyone tried to decide the topic of discussion,those who had tired of the burden of political meetings over the years continued to chat with their neighbors or to rustle papers and ignore the proceedings;they wanted socializing,not serious discussion. We settled on the topic of family.Should you tell your parents that you are gay?Should you take care of your parents by marrying and having a child?It struck me that the focus was parents-there was no mention of siblings-and I wondered if these young men were eldest sons or only sons.The need for them to carry on the patrilineal family line seemed the implicit cultural common sense. Before this meeting many young men who identify as gay had told me that they felt a keen responsibility to get married,not because of what others in their social worlds might think otherwise but because they did not want to disappoint their parents;they felt an obligation to have a son.I rarely heard the same sentiments from women,who seem to feel freer to assert that they will never marry. Published by Duke University Press
460 GLO: A JOURNAL OF LESBIAN AND GAY STUDIES substantive terms. I turn to three moments in which these articulations have appeared: debates about family and kinship, appropriations of linguistic terminology, and the semiotic practices of the term quality that have led to divisions among gay men. Each of these moments displays specific and different kinds of transcultural articulations, none of which can be reduced to a global gay identity. Gay Kinship It was a Saturday afternoon, and the weekly salon had begun. Men and women had been drifting into the discreet caf6 on the west side of the city for two hours. Many were Beijing residents and regulars at the salon, but each week brought a few new faces, often men from out of town who traveled to Beijing on business for one of the proliferating number of capitalist companies seeking larger networks or government favors in the capital. They learned about the salon from the national gay hotline that operates out of Beijing. Somehow everyone packed into the one-room cafk, and by the time the discussion began there were about twenty participants, most of them young men. The gay caf6 owner, Mr. Wu, welcomes the salon and does not mind doing business besides. Groups of three and four pored over the latest cache of magazines and books that foreigners (including myself) had brought from the United States, England, or Hong Kong, as well as information downloaded from the Internet in China. Xiaolan, an economist who holds a high-level government post and knows how to run a meeting, called the group to order. She asked everyone to introduce themselves. The newcomers were nervous, for introducing oneself is a virtual admission that erotic interest in one's own gender has propelled one into the room. (It is also an astute way to assess who might be there for other reasons.) While everyone tried to decide the topic of discussion, those who had tired of the burden of political meetings over the years continued to chat with their neighbors or to rustle papers and ignore the proceedings; they wanted socializing, not serious discussion. We settled on the topic of family. Should you tell your parents that you are gay? Should you take care of your parents by marrying and having a child? It struck me that the focus was parents-there was no mention of siblings-and I wondered if these young men were eldest sons or only sons. The need for them to carry on the patrilineal family line seemed the implicit cultural common sense. Before this meeting many young men who identify as gay had told me that they felt a keen responsibility to get married, not because of what others in their social worlds might think otherwise but because they did not want to disappoint their parents; they felt an obligation to have a son. I rarely heard the same sentiments from women, who seem to feel freer to assert that they will never marry. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies Published by Duke University Press