FSS-DSOC 2024/2025 Luncheon Seminar #2: “The Paradox of Gender Reversal: Dance Hosts and the Pursuit of Gender Ideals in Contemporary China”, by Prof. Juan CHEN

This study examines the masculinity of Chinese male migrants who earn their living as “dance hosts.” Dance hosts partner middle-aged women in dance halls, sell experiences of intimacy and engage in ongoing romantic relationships with their female clients. This talk seeks to capture an intimate and “up-close” portrait of (heterosexual) male dance hosting, and then further addresses dance hosts’ masculine subjectivity by examining the coping strategies they use to overcome the stigma attached to their profession and to assert their masculinity. Ultimately, the article argues that the process of masculine subjectivity formation in the case of male dance hosts is structured by dominant norms of Chinese masculinity. Although seemingly highly subversive, the relationship between dance hosts and clients in fact fulfils conventional gender ideals and encourages the perpetuation of traditional gender roles in China’s patriarchal society. This work seeks to offer an understanding of traditional gender norms (or ideals) through the lens of normative Chinese masculinity within the context of a stigmatized occupation.

Juan Chen is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Macau.  Her teaching and scholarly work encompass three interconnected areas of study. The first area centers around values and ethics, exploring topics such as self-formation, diverse notions of achievement and success, the motivational forces of values in shaping individual and collective understandings of social practice, and the realization of values. Her second research area focuses on gender, sexuality, and intimacy, while her third research interest lies in the field of class, educational strategies and migration.

Juan received her PhD from the University of Cambridge. Prior to joining the University of Macau, she contributed as a research fellow at the Southern University of Science and Technology.