Masculinities in Chinese boys’ love stories: female imaginations, market forces and state influence.

This study investigates the imagined utopia of Chinese masculinity to uncover contemporary ideals of Chinese manhood and prototypes of gender relationships. To this end, the study involves in-depth interviews with 25 <italic>danmei</italic> creators and online questionnaires collected from <italic>danmei</italic> communities in mainland China. This study contributes to previous scholarly discussions by delineating <italic>danmei</italic>’s fandom and <italic>danmei</italic>’s literary formulae. The created masculinities in <italic>danmei</italic> reflect rising female creators’ subjectivities. Nevertheless, <italic>danmei</italic>’s political implications in China are limited and cannot be generalized as a move to overthrow the patriarchy or oversimplified as a step towards a feminist movement. Among the different archetypes of relationships, the pairing of two strong male characters enjoys the most popularity, which attests to women’s projection of independent subjectivity and rising neoliberal sensibilities in China. However, these emergent masculinities, initiated by female creators, persist in negotiations with the market and the state. The <italic>danmei</italic> industry in China, although subject to stringent surveillance, continues to flourish through underground avenues such as piracy and overseas purchasing agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]