Book dossier

Tongzhi living

by Tiantian Zheng

Offers insights into the community of same-sex-attracted men in the metropolitan city of Dalian in northeast China. Zheng reveals an array of coping mechanisms developed by tongzhi men in response to rapid social, cultural, and political transformations in postsocialist China. Unlike gay men in the West during the past three decades, tongzhi men in China have adopted the prevailing moral idea of heterosexuality and pursued membership in the dominant culture while also endeavoring to establish a tongzhi culture. They are, therefore, caught in a constant tension of embracing and contesting normality as they try to create a new and legitimate space for themselves, paradoxically undercutting the goals they aspire to reach, perpetuating social prejudice against them, and thwarting activism they believe they are advocating.-- From publisher description.