Sociological Review of China.
2016, 4(3):
85-96.
A paradox of Chinese homosexuals’ pursue for intimacies arises from the emerging homonormativity in contemporary China: on one hand, the non-marital sexual behaviors have been rejected by the mainstream social norms; on the other, same sex marriage is not an available option for them. Based on the analysis of Chinese same sex marriage, this paper critically explore the public/private distinction theory. Firstly, chaxu geju as a conceptual framework has been introduced to highlight the scalability and relativity of the boundary between the public and the private in Chinese society, in order to critically analyze the role of state and the myths of the family in the discussions of same sex marriage. Subsequently, based on the argument of the feminist scholars such as Judith Butler, Nancy Tuana, etc., the “person” situated in specific power relations in the slogan “personal is political” has been replaced by a more general “person”, following which the epistemological analysis of the consequences of knowledge/ignorance behind the attitudes of ordinary people towards same sex marriage has been made. This is a travel of the public/private distinction theory across different worlds: from the western to China, from the specific gendered power relations to the more general Chinese society. There are different selves with different attributes of the theory in different worlds, based on which the new possibilities of reading, using, revising, and developing theory have been opened up