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This book Chinese Male homosexualities: Memba, Tongzhi and Golden Boy1 by Travis Kong was not wrritten primarily about HIV. Instead it is an essential text on contemporary male sexuality in modern-day China. The story of the Chinese homosexualities in this book begins in Hong Kong where, he argues, its unique colonial history, Chinese culture and family values intersect with environmental factors such as the dense population, limited space and history of travelling, have helped shift the queer culture from ‘institutional’ politics to ‘cultural and economic’ politics, which manifests itself in media and popular cultures as ways to challenge societal discrimination and injustices.
The author argues that ‘memba’ in Hong Kong or ‘tongzhi’ in mainland China (the local parlances for gay men) always struggle with their families due to their gay identities. In …
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Competing interests None.
Provenance and peer review commissioned; internally peer reviewed.