Walking a Tightrope : Performing Chinese Young Masculinities in Hong Kong

• Young men growing up in Hong Kong are caught in the socio-cultural dynamics that problematise their sense of masculinity. The constitution of Chinese masculinity tends to harness the Confucian discourse of self-control, which values containment and even suppression of sexual desire. While such notion of masculinity is also located within heterosexual identification, Chinese men are expected to compartmentalise relational contexts in dealt with their sexual expression. Nonetheless, the objectification of sexuality driven by consumerist urban culture and the commercial media has rapidly pushed the boundary of sexual expression; more than before, Chinese young men are compelled to respond to sexual identification regardless of social settings. By using the data collected from male college students, this paper argues that young men adopt different strategies in performing masculinity while evading certain gendered labels. This paper also proposes that these strategies are to be understood in Bourdieu's theoretical framework.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Genusstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Gender Studies (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)