Gender Politics In Adult Female Fans

This research is based on a case study about the online fandom of TVXQ, a Korean band which is one of the most popular stars among Chinese women. It consists of an online ethnography, where online participatory observation, in-depth interview and recruiting for self-interpretation are applied. With the perspective of Feminism, this research focuses on the adult fans in this female community.This research explores the social context of these adult fans, the micro-politics which happens in their fandom, as well as the relation between their fandom and Feminism in contemporary China. The ambiguous micro-politics on the level of individuals, especially how it empowers these adult fans, is given the most attention.This research argues:fandom has become the main channel for these women to participate in social activities, breaking down the barriers of domestic domain. The weak-politics image of the female community, has become an important premise for these civil organizations to develop a participatory culture. This makes these fans communities the most active public-sphere across Chinese women. Fandom is practically useful for these adult fans, who are discontent with their lives but without power to fight back. Fandom provides them with a possibility for change, although this is happening on spiritual level rather than in political structure. Concretely speaking, these micro-utilities include dropping-out, attaining social support and compensatory self-esteem, as well as spiritual sustenance. This facilitates the construction of an alternative community among these women, which is effective in terms of shaping the subjectivity of these women, instead of changing the society. Finally, some counter-femininity is shown across these female fans, and their Yaoi culture has challenged the dualistic gender norms, blurring the traditional gender border. That is, the situation of women as the object of male's gaze, is now broken down by these fans. However, most of these women are not with any Feminism purpose while they are practicing in a Feminism way. This could be called the Chinese Practical Feminism, which offers an effective way to defend their rights as women, coping with some difficulties in their daily lives. This empowers them with the micro-power, which is quite different from the style of Macro-Feminism.