Visibility Through Vlogs?: Lala Vloggers in China's Digital Space

Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Yin, Evelyn Gelan
- Graduate Program:
- Media Studies (MA)
- Degree:
- Master of Arts
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- May 08, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Sara Liao, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Matt Mc Allister, Committee Member
Anthony Olorunnisola, Program Head/Chair
Michelle Rodino-Colocino, Committee Member - Keywords:
- lala
China
Bilibili
Neoliberalism
Queer
Feminism
Homonormativity - Abstract:
- Forty years after Adrienne Rich published Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, same-sex intimacy among women is still unrecognized and dismissed under the heteropatriarchal knowledge production and activism. This research explores the phenomena of popular lala vloggers in China’s cyberspace. The term lala underscores the neglected women as gendered subjects under queer politics, and the local development of queer knowledge in China that is intertwined with but also distinctive from the globalized LGBT+ identities. I position lala vloggers in China at the intersection of China’s non-confrontational queer politics and commercialized queer media culture. I strive to illuminate how lalas construct their queer subjectivities through audio-visual narratives to capture the distinctiveness of women’s experience in queer politics. Meanwhile, I explore the shaping force of the digital media platform Bilibili on gender and queer culture through its governance and commercialization. I also build the conversation between lala vloggers and feminism and queer studies through the critiques of neoliberal logics in gender politics. Through critical discourse analysis, thematic analysis, and the political economy of Bilibili, I illustrate the complexity and multiplicity of lala subjectivities in their storytelling and embodiment. I identify three main themes: explaining and deconstructing labels and categorical terms, negotiating with family kinship, and storytelling on romantic relationships. Additionally, I show how the theme of lala is made versatile by the platform to serve its economic and political interests. First, Bilibili accepts and manipulates the existence of lalas as one of the middle-class lifestyles and the authenticity of lalas is complicated by sponsored content. Second, Bilibili gatekeeps the content produced by lalas themselves while amplifying heterosexist voices on queerness.