This article investigates how young Chinese male fans interpret and engage with mediated athletic... more This article investigates how young Chinese male fans interpret and engage with mediated athletic bromances, drawing from interviews with university students who follow sports games closely. The research uncovers complex dynamics wherein these fans contextually embrace and delegitimise the homoerotic aspects of mediated athletic bromances as they navigate their sports consumption. This phenomenon mirrors the multifaceted experiences of young men in present-day China, where the market and the party-state co-create a tapestry of overlapping, yet conflicting gender expectations. The findings illuminate the intricate relations between consumer culture and nationalist politics crafted in China, as well as their manifestations within the realm of sports fandom.
This article discusses the application of feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA) in social m... more This article discusses the application of feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA) in social media data analysis. The discussion is primarily based on a case study that uses FCDA to explore the stereotyping of sportswomen in China's social-mediated sports fandom. It emphasises the challenges and practical considerations involved in the design and implementation of the case study. In doing so, it provides insights into the research process and methodology, highlighting how FCDA helps to critically examine the male gaze and gender power dynamics within social-mediated sports fandom. By reading this case study, we will learn how to incorporate a feminist perspective into critical discourse studies in various research contexts. It is hoped that the case study will contribute to a broader understanding of the methodological issues associated with FCDA research practices.
This article offers a timely, critical analysis of the male gaze upon sportswomen in male Chinese... more This article offers a timely, critical analysis of the male gaze upon sportswomen in male Chinese fans' consumption of sporting megaevents. We use the most popular Chinese-language sports fandom platform, Hupu, as the data repository and scrutinise the threads of male Hupu users' postings about two elite sportswomen at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the case studies. Drawing on feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA), we elucidate the discursive strategies that male Chinese fans adopt to sexualise sportswomen and trivialise their accomplishments. The research findings showcase how China's sports fandom emerges as a masculine terrain, where men's visions of asymmetrical gender power relations are discursively negotiated and rationalised.
This article investigates how young Chinese male fans interpret and engage with mediated athletic... more This article investigates how young Chinese male fans interpret and engage with mediated athletic bromances, drawing from interviews with university students who follow sports games closely. The research uncovers complex dynamics wherein these fans contextually embrace and delegitimise the homoerotic aspects of mediated athletic bromances as they navigate their sports consumption. This phenomenon mirrors the multifaceted experiences of young men in present-day China, where the market and the party-state co-create a tapestry of overlapping, yet conflicting gender expectations. The findings illuminate the intricate relations between consumer culture and nationalist politics crafted in China, as well as their manifestations within the realm of sports fandom.
This article discusses the application of feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA) in social m... more This article discusses the application of feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA) in social media data analysis. The discussion is primarily based on a case study that uses FCDA to explore the stereotyping of sportswomen in China's social-mediated sports fandom. It emphasises the challenges and practical considerations involved in the design and implementation of the case study. In doing so, it provides insights into the research process and methodology, highlighting how FCDA helps to critically examine the male gaze and gender power dynamics within social-mediated sports fandom. By reading this case study, we will learn how to incorporate a feminist perspective into critical discourse studies in various research contexts. It is hoped that the case study will contribute to a broader understanding of the methodological issues associated with FCDA research practices.
This article offers a timely, critical analysis of the male gaze upon sportswomen in male Chinese... more This article offers a timely, critical analysis of the male gaze upon sportswomen in male Chinese fans' consumption of sporting megaevents. We use the most popular Chinese-language sports fandom platform, Hupu, as the data repository and scrutinise the threads of male Hupu users' postings about two elite sportswomen at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the case studies. Drawing on feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA), we elucidate the discursive strategies that male Chinese fans adopt to sexualise sportswomen and trivialise their accomplishments. The research findings showcase how China's sports fandom emerges as a masculine terrain, where men's visions of asymmetrical gender power relations are discursively negotiated and rationalised.
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Papers by Chunyan Wu