Queer Media in China

'Bao’s book is a rich addition to the still nascent subfield of queer studies concerning mainland China. Compared with previous studies, largely coming from anthropology and literary studies, the book is uniquely focused on institutional and community history. Bao’s ability to document the complex relationships between grassroots organizations, NGOs, foreign embassies, and government agencies behind the scenes of queer activism in China effectively deconstructs the Cold War notions of censorship and freedom that are often uncritically applied when analyzing media practices in China. Although the book is written with non-Chinese specialists in mind, it offers a view of queer culture in China that is deeply rooted in its communities. By bridging the queer community in China and its international counterparts, the book is an extraordinary work of cultural translation.' - Dr Jiangtao Harry Gu in The Journal of Asian Studies

‘This comprehensive book is one of the first scholarly works to capture the recent history, changes, and complexities of LGBTQ activism and practice-based media cultures (produced by, in, about, and for gender and sexual minority communities) in an increasingly globalized and digitized China. In a society and a scholarly world where queer Chinese women’s media practices and cultures are far less valued and critically appraised than those of their male counterparts, the attention Bao pays to both traditional and digital media and public spaces, carved out by queer women filmmakers and activists of the past several decades, deserves readers’ appreciation … This important academic source in queer Chinese studies will be useful for undergraduate and graduate courses on Chinese gender and sexuality studies, queer and feminist studies, global and transnational communication, and film and media cultures.’ - Dr Jamie J. Zhao in The China Journal