Performing C/Niang Music Culture: the Construction of Gay Identities and Politics of Sexuality in Taipei G Star

Drawing on geographical non-presentational theory and music ethnography, this thesis analyzes Asia Pop music show in Taipei G Star, and zooms in on the construction of identities and the politics of sexuality in the process of music performance. Asia Pop is a highly popular music/dancing show composed of both Chinese and Korean pop songs, especially those by female stars. Because of its coded female qualities, Asia Pop is regarded as a sissy, or as it is stylized in Chinese, “C/Niang,” gay music culture in gay community. For gay men, performing “C/Niang” registers very different implications from demeaning to empowering gay subjects based on different conditions, and it always involves the process of identity construction. How does Asia Pop become gay music culture? How are clubbers’ gay identities reshaped through performing “C/Niang” in Asia Pop? How does Asia Pop involve the politics of sexuality? Based on case analysis, I point out: 1) A dualistic masculinity-femininity understanding of C/Niang performance is insufficient as one should not lose sight of both the historical and performative aspect; 2) For gay men, performing Asia Pop is a practice of (re)citing gay culture, which means that “C/Niang” performance is interrelated to the becoming of gay man; 3) Performing “C/Niang,” more than representing a cultural signifying system, should be understood in terms of the environmental space of the club which clubbers inhabit and interact with; 4) It is necessary to make cautious inquiries into what female images are performed so as to study the power relations in the performance of “C/Niang.”