Gender Role Reconstruction: LGBTQ+ Optimism in Mainland China Via Transgender Representation – Investigating Online Comments on Queer Films

Abstract

The LGBTQ community is becoming more active as Mainland China's society starts to reflect a trend toward more diverse growth. People in Mainland China have also paid more attention to the transgender population from a queer cultural standpoint. Under the framework of Dramaturgy, as the mismatch between transgender people’s psychological sex and physiological sex is not consistent with the expectations of gender roles under the usual concepts, it has initially caused the collapse and disappointment of the roles of other groups in the Chinese society, and thus a lot of unfriendly voices have appeared in the society. However, with the increase in the number of mainland images featuring transgender people, there has been an increase in the amount of images of transgender people that people have come across. By examining the public's comments on these images, it is possible to find out how attitudes towards the transgender community have changed and developed in Mainland China in recent years. This paper will focus on the LGBTQ+ group, especially the less focused community of transgender, from the perspective of Gender Roles and Dramaturgy. Through the research method of online ethnography, this study analysed the reviews of queer movies from different periods, and explore whether the queer community and the transgender community, which receives less attention among them, will have more room for survival in the future society of Mainland China. The author hopes that this article will serve as a reference for future transgender studies in Mainland China.