Abstract Book of the 4th International Conference on LGBT Studies
Year: 2025
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Homosexuality in the Digital Age: A Feminist Sociological Analysis of Online Discourse Among the Public in Southwest China
Dinghui Wang and Dr. Halimah Mohamed Ali
ABSTRACT:
This study examines public digital discourses on homosexuality in Southwest China–specifically in Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Chongqing–regions characterized by lower levels of economic development yet, perhaps unexpectedly, relatively high tolerance toward sexual minorities. Existing research on LGBTQ topics in China has largely concentrated on economically advanced cities, relied on a narrow range of platforms such as Weibo and Blued, and offered limited engagement with sociological and psychoanalytic perspectives. Therefore, this study combines computational topic modeling with Foucauldian discourse analysis and Butler’s feminist sociological insights to systematically identify and critically analyze public digital discourses across four major social media platforms: BiliBili, TikTok, Weibo, and Zhihu. Contrary to the common assumption that economic disadvantage fosters social conservatism, the findings reveal that ordinary users in these Chinese southwestern provinces participated in discussions on the topic at rates exceeding expectations and expressed notably inclusive attitudes toward homosexuality in their digital discourse over the past five years. This suggests that social media can function as vital spaces for LGBTQ visibility and community-building, even in regions often considered peripheral to national conversations on sexual diversity. This study makes three contributions: first, it broadens the geographical scope of Chinese LGBTQ research beyond economically developed coastal cities; second, it provides a multi-platform analysis that offers a richer picture of how young people engage with sexual identity online; and third, it demonstrates how sociological psychoanalytic frameworks can illuminate the links among digital media, regional identity, and the acceptance of sexual minorities in contemporary China.
Keywords: Southwest China, computational topic modeling, Foucauldian discourse analysis, social media