A male idol becoming a girl?: Nisu fans' sexual fantasy about male stars

Tingting Hu; Chenchen Zou

A male idol becoming a girl? Nisu fans' sexual fantasy about male stars

Tingting Hu
, Chenchen Zou^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Media and Communication

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The emergent movement of reverse Sue (Nisu) in China refers to the practice of (especially female) fans imagining themselves as having a strong male role to their idols' weak female role. In this process, female fans take on a powerful, active role to protect and look after their male idols in female form. Examining how Nisu fans interact with other types of fans and negotiate a mainstream gender discourse dominated by traditional heterosexual norms reveals how, as a burgeoning subcultural group, female Nisu fans express their subversive potential by seeking the power of an imaginary phallus to defy male hegemony. However, their internal divergence and self-contradiction might weaken this defiance.

Original language	English
Journal	Transformative Works and Cultures
Publication status	Published - 14 Dec 2023

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https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/2369

Cite this

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abstract = "The emergent movement of reverse Sue (Nisu) in China refers to the practice of (especially female) fans imagining themselves as having a strong male role to their idols' weak female role. In this process, female fans take on a powerful, active role to protect and look after their male idols in female form. Examining how Nisu fans interact with other types of fans and negotiate a mainstream gender discourse dominated by traditional heterosexual norms reveals how, as a burgeoning subcultural group, female Nisu fans express their subversive potential by seeking the power of an imaginary phallus to defy male hegemony. However, their internal divergence and self-contradiction might weaken this defiance.",

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AB - The emergent movement of reverse Sue (Nisu) in China refers to the practice of (especially female) fans imagining themselves as having a strong male role to their idols' weak female role. In this process, female fans take on a powerful, active role to protect and look after their male idols in female form. Examining how Nisu fans interact with other types of fans and negotiate a mainstream gender discourse dominated by traditional heterosexual norms reveals how, as a burgeoning subcultural group, female Nisu fans express their subversive potential by seeking the power of an imaginary phallus to defy male hegemony. However, their internal divergence and self-contradiction might weaken this defiance.

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A male idol becoming a girl? Nisu fans' sexual fantasy about male stars

Abstract

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