Confronting Sexuality and Identity in China

[xchrom]

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/drag-queen-china-tomoko-kikuchi-photos/?_php=true&_type=blogs&WT.mc_id=D-NYT-MKTG-MOD-62722-08-11-PH&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c=$%7BCAMPAIGN_ID&_r=0


Drag queens in the mirror. Beijing. 2007.Credit Tomoko Kikuchi

Expecting to ring in the New Year at a Beijing bar, Tomoko Kikuchi was stood up by a friend. Instead, she started chatting to Meimei, a drag queen who invited her to a performance at a lesbian bar. As she waited for the show to begin, an argument broke out between two women in the crowd. The show went on: Meimei performed amid flying beers and blood, as if to a rapt audience.

It seemed like something out of a movie. Intrigued, Ms. Kikuchi wanted to know more about this woman, who seemed so determined. Their encounter led to an exploration of drag queen culture in China, which, despite its history of theatrical cross-dressing, is not particularly known for open views on sexuality. Nearly a decade later, Ms. Kikuchi says that her project, “I and I,” is more than the story of people confronting their sexuality. It’s about people confronting themselves.

“They’re making a lot of effort,” she said. “They overcome their family issues and their love issues and their work issues. They try to find themselves and they try to face themselves.”

Her project confronts a shift in attitudes toward sexuality in China, which Ms. Kikuchi says is more open now than it was in 2005, when she began. Her project attempts to illustrate movement from what she calls a “dark time” toward the personal freedom she sees today.


Xinxin crying on the bed at an underground apartment. His tattoo of a gold fish means good luck.Credit Tomoko Kikuchi


Guimei at the mirror. Chongqing. 2011.Credit Tomoko Kikuchi

[theHandpuppet]

1. Thanks much for posting this.

Fascinating look at LGBT culture in China. Would like to read more about Kikuchi's project, "I and I".

[xchrom]

2. ...