{"id":282858,"date":"2023-08-23T06:45:15","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T10:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/?p=282858"},"modified":"2023-08-25T12:13:26","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T16:13:26","slug":"can-queer-voices-be-funny-feminist-and-chinese-at-the-same-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/2023\/08\/23\/can-queer-voices-be-funny-feminist-and-chinese-at-the-same-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Can queer voices be funny, feminist, and Chinese at the same time? This Vancouver-based troupe thinks so."},"content":{"rendered":"

On a summer night in early August, UniCome<\/a>, a Vancouver-based stand-up troupe, presented its fourth show. A special edition to celebrate Vancouver\u2019s Pride Month, the event featured a series of sets performed by LGBTQ people, in addition to two drag shows. While queer-themed stand-up comedy and drag performances are not uncommon in Canada\u2019s third-largest city, what makes the group distinctive is its all-Chinese cast, and that all jokes are told in Mandarin.<\/p>\n

Founded in early 2023, UniCome is one of the many stand-up collectives formed outside China by and for the Chinese LGBTQ and feminist communities. As part of an emerging global trend, similar groups have sprung up in other North American and European cities, such as New York<\/a> and San Francisco<\/a>. But according to the founder of UniCome, who prefers to be called Q\u012bq\u012b \u4e03\u4e03, her troupe is the first of its kind to label itself as \u201cqueer feminist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self-identifying as a cisgender queer woman, Qiqi told The China Project that her goal with UniCome is to create a public space for Mandarin-speaking gender\/sexuality-based minorities living in Vancouver, a city that has witnessed<\/a>\u00a0a surge of immigrants from mainland China since the COVID-19 pandemic. This new wave of Chinese immigrants has further enlarged Vancouver\u2019s Mandarin-speaking population in tandem with its already flourishing Cantonese community.<\/p>\n

A recent report shows<\/a> that more than a quarter of the residents in Metro Vancouver \u2014 a metropolitan area that has a population of more than 2.6 million people \u2014 do not use English or French, the country\u2019s official languages, at home. Instead, Mandarin is the most spoken language among them.<\/p>\n

Despite the increasing size of the Chinese population, Qiqi, who had been living in the city for several years, still struggled to find a space to discuss China-focused social and political issues, or a place where feminists and LGBTQ people of Chinese descent could gather regularly. \u201cThe demand for this sort of space is rising especially after the \u2018white paper revolution,\u2019\u201d she remarked, referring to the series of protests<\/a> that erupted across China in November 2022 as an expression of dissent against the country\u2019s strict COVID-zero policy, which later galvanized overseas Chinese people and international students to launch demonstrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur public space should be dedicated to the value of anti-censorship,\u201d Qiqi said. \u201cHumor is a powerful tool to express dissident voices in these spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

This statement was confirmed by G\u01d2ud\u00e0n \u72d7\u86cb, an actor who had zero experience as a stand-up comedian before joining UniCome in March. Since then, they have performed four times. Prior to UniCome, Goudan, an international student who identifies as non-binary pansexual and is in their early 20s, was able to make friends with English-speaking queer students from school, but was still longing for a Chinese-speaking community. \u201cI don\u2019t have any other safe space to go [as a queer and feminist] in Vancouver,\u201d they told The China Project.<\/p>\n

For Goudan, the sense of safety partially came from the affirmative response from the audience. \u201cMy performances are mainly based on real experiences, but there\u2019s an element of exaggeration to them as well. Many of these stories are related to private and even traumatic things that happened in my life,\u201d they said. \u201cBut when I deliver them as something funny, it becomes a healing process.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one show, Goudan shared the dismissive and judgmental comments hurled at them by some Chinese men when they first started using a dating app a few years ago in Vancouver. Despite a strong feeling of discomfort, Goudan was not able to clap back at the moment, which made them feel even more powerless afterwards. After recounting the experience on the stage, Goudan concluded that it was these men who turned them from a gentle person into a \u201cradical feminist.\u201d The story received warm applause from the crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt both affirmed and surprised by the reaction, given that feminism is considered to be a derogatory term on the Chinese internet. Adding \u2018radical\u2019 into the mix just makes things more complicated,\u201d Goudan said.<\/p>\n

Another UniCome member, Felicity, an actor who identifies as non-binary trangender lesbian, also found public storytelling to be a source of healing power. Having advocated for transgender rights in China for several years, Felicity moved to Vancouver in 2022. She introduced her performances as based on the \u201ctraumatic and absurd\u201d experiences she had back in China, \u201csuch as my exploration of transgender identity, the experiences of being closeted and having to conceal my gender expression, the social pressure on marriage and childbirth that my partner went through, the harassment from police.\u201d<\/p>\n

Felicity doesn’t shy away from telling political jokes. She characterized her comedy as \u201cinterweaving gender issues and political perspectives together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to bring up political issues within the queer and feminist community,\u201d she told The China Project. \u201cI was so used to avoiding these topics back in China because of censorship, but now I can speak out when living outside of China.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past few years, censorship on LGBTQ issues and crackdown on social activism has escalated in China. After the suspension<\/a> of Shanghai PRIDE and a clampdown<\/a> on university LGBTQ student groups in 2021, Beijing LGBT Center, an important organization with nearly 15 years of history, announced<\/a> its permanent shutdown in May.<\/p>\n

Felicity\u2019s interest in comedy began when she watched famous Hong Kong comedian Dayo Wong Tze-wah\u2019s two-hour show<\/a> prior to the city\u2019s handover to China in 1997. She was impressed by not only Wong\u2019s quips and wits, but also his skillful storytelling that accurately conveyed Hong Kong people\u2019s ambivalent feelings about their future.<\/p>\n

Later, she found inspiration from Chengdu-based group Xiang Dang Nv Zi (\u76f8\u5f53\u5973\u5b50 Xi\u0101ngd\u0101ng N\u01daz\u01d0), a main force in organizing feminist stand-up comedy in China. Among its members, Felicity was particularly drawn by Chinese feminist Zh\u00e8ng Ch\u01d4r\u00e1n \u90d1\u695a\u7136, whose funny recounting of her frustrated sexual experiences with men, which was uploaded on Weibo in 2021 and went viral before being deleted<\/a> by the website, struck Felicity as \u201cunadulterated, sharp, and satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, none of these Chinese predecessors has a transgender perspective. Meanwhile, Felicity didn\u2019t feel \u201cseen\u201d in English stand-up comedy, where Asian trans people have low representation. The lack of voices she could relate to made Felicity wonder about the best comedy style that suits her and whether the audience would have any interest in listening to her stories. But to her surprise, her jokes have been well accepted and welcomed on the stage of UniCome.<\/p>\n

According to Qiqi, the \u201cqueer feminist\u201d label shows the group\u2019s determination to spark a dialogue about feminist politics through LGBTQ experiences. \u201cThere have been many tensions between the two communities. Certain feminists are quite transphobic, and queer space is often dominated by cisgender gay men, leaving less space for women, trans, and non-binary folks,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Qiqi noted that at UniCome\u2019s shows, the audience is not entirely made up of those who are well-versed in the topics of gender and feminism. After the recent Pride event, a parent in attendance shared her confusion with the troupe. \u201cIs gender really this complicated? I\u2019ve never thought about this question before, nor did I know gender is more than male and female,\u201d Qiqi recalled the response. The mother added, \u201cI also learned a new word, asexual. This is my first time hearing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Qiqi deemed it a success. \u201cWe hope to raise awareness and to increase the visibility of marginalized groups within LGBTQ people,\u201d she said. \u201cSlowly, some foundational connections could be built between us and the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

Other LGBTQ stories:<\/h3>\n

Starbucks in China removes pro-LGBTQ products after being reported<\/strong> (Twitter<\/a>)<\/p>\n

A Weibo user with more than 337,000 followers wrote that some Starbucks stores in Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province, had taken down Pride products after he brought public attention to the issue on the social media site. In a later post by the same person, he commented that Chinese LGBTQ people\u2019s use of the rainbow sign as a queer symbol is a \u201cdegradation\u201d of the sign\u2019s original positive meaning.<\/p>\n

Q&A with two Chinese LGBTQ activists<\/strong> (Bumingbai Pod<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Popular Mandarin-language podcast Bumingbai Pod<\/a> has released a new episode where its host Li Yuan interviews two anonymous LGBTQ activists from China. The conversation touches on the history of queer and trans activism in the country and the government\u2019s recent crackdown.<\/p>\n

Shanghai\u2019s \u2018voguing\u2019 dancers step lightly to avoid official gaze \u2013 in pictures<\/strong> (The Guardian<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Photos showcase LGBTQ people amid the burgeoning voguing subculture in the country\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n

\n

Queer China<\/a>\u00a0is our fortnightly roundup of news and stories related to China\u2019s sexual and gender minority population.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For members of UniCome, joking about their queer experiences on the stage is not just for laughs \u2014 it also provides a source of healing power and helps foster a queer-friendly dialogue with the audience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20033,"featured_media":282859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12908],"tags":[14026,19083],"column":[19082],"class":[],"coauthors":[19001],"acf":[],"la_post_categories":{"society-and-culture":"Society & Culture"},"la_post_tags":{"lgbtq":"LGBTQ","queer-china":"Queer China"},"content_writeup":{"rendered":"

Founded in early 2023 in Vancouver, Canada, UniCome is a stand-up comedy collective for the Chinese LGBTQ and feminist communities. Similar groups have sprung up in other North American and European cities, such as New York and San Francisco.<\/p>\n

But according to its founder, UniCome is the first of its kind to label itself as \u201cqueer feminist.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

More on The China Project:<\/em><\/p>\n

A French sneak attack in 1884<\/strong> led to a fundamental misunderstanding of Qing Dynasty technological prowess. It\u2019s time to reexamine the popular \u2014 but simplistic, if not outright wrong \u2014 idea that China\u2019s military losses to Europe (and, later, Japan) were due to its inability to modernize. James Carter explains in This Week in China\u2019s History<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Michael Yahuda\u2019s Hong Kong<\/em> is a clear-eyed assessment<\/strong> of the run-up to the Hong Kong handover from Britain to the People’s Republic of China. Read all about it in Paul French\u2019s weekly China books column<\/a>.<\/p>\n"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282858"},{"taxonomy":"column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/column?post=282858"},{"taxonomy":"class","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/class?post=282858"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=282858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}