Wu, Hao;
(2025)
The Role of Digital Technologies in Producing Hybrid Queer Spaces: A biographical analysis of Chinese queer males across generations.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Abstract
In a socio-political context of hegemonic heteronormativity in Chinese society, public spaces are where gender and sexual expressions and practices are especially policed and under surveillance. Heterosexual and heteronormative norms prevalently suppress the expression and practice of queer identities in these spaces, rendering the experiences of those identifying as gender non-binary or non-heterosexual invisible and marginalised. Meanwhile, the evolution of digital technologies has transformed the engagement and participation of users in public spaces - physical and virtual - redefining the configuration and significance of hybrid queer space. In China, there is a notable paucity of knowledge regarding how queer males utilize digital technologies and engage with hybrid queer space. Addressing this gap, this dissertation presents the self-reported experiences of 45 adult Chinese queer males living in Chengdu, China. Through biographical interviews, participants narrated about how they utilize digital technologies (especially locative media such as Blued) to negotiate and navigate their queer identities against social surveillance, actively and agentically participating in and producing hybrid queer spaces. However, queer individuals from different generations remain subject to material constraints that affect their mobility within hybrid queer space, demonstrating generational inequalities manifested as ageism, classism, bodily discrimination, and other forms of sexual capitals. To resist those inequalities, participants move beyond Blued and engage with multi-platforms to meet their diverse needs. The study specifically exemplifies and examines how participants use multi-platforms to queer school space, negotiating their visibility of queer identity. This study calls for future research, particularly in the fields of digital and queer geographies, to move beyond functional studies of singular queer social media and focus on how queer individuals utilize these digital technologies - their methods, outcomes, and limitations. It also argues that queer males resist societal surveillance through a multifunctional combination of space.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | The Role of Digital Technologies in Producing Hybrid Queer Spaces: A biographical analysis of Chinese queer males across generations |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10210657 |
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