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Since the recent state crackdown on effeminate stars labeled as niangpao (sissy pants), "insufficient" masculinity has once again become a focus of political controversy in China. Among these stars, Zhou Shen, a male pop singer known for his feminized voice and image, continues to enjoy immense popularity and perform in official programs. His growing fame and tolerance by the state call into question his cultural-political strategy. Conceptualizing Zhou's androgynous performance as a political effect of a series of co-optation, compromises and negotiations, this essay offers a contextualized reading of the complex ways in which competing and contradictory influences shape his expression. In tracing the practices that configure his stardom, we investigate how Zhou's androgyny paradoxically reaffirms and unsettles hegemonic norms in non-antagonistic ways. We describe how his engagement with Xi Jinping's China Dream creates an ambivalent space for negotiating established norms. We argue that Zhou's phenomenal success rests with the fusion of contradictory elements into his performances and his ability to cut across binary classifications. This process has nurtured a politics of ambivalence marked by ambiguity, confusion and contingency. It also sheds light on the limit and possibility of doing gender politics in an increasingly illiberal setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Talking about rape is taboo in Japan, where sexual assaults are rarely reported. Shiori Ito, a #MeToo symbol in Japan, broke the silence on rape by disclosing her victimization experience against the public backlash. This article conducts a feminist critical discourse analysis of popular online responses to Ito's case in Yahoo's news comment sections to explore the public witnessing of personal rape stories in Japan. Our findings demonstrate that three different discursive positions—victim-blaming, feminist, and reformist in orientation—negotiate and contest the notions of rape. These footprints are characterized by conflicting attitudes toward Japan's rape culture and patriarchy. The contradictory interpretations generated by witnessing reveal how the Japanese socio-political context restricts and enables critical possibilities for the #MeToo movement. This study conceptualizes these heterogeneous, fragmented, and multifaceted popular discourses as constituents of the digital footprints of #MeToo. These footprints offer insights into the possibilities and challenges of Japanese gender politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reality TV sensation Sisters Who Make Waves has recently garnered public attention in China while sparking critical debate about middle-aged women. This article reexamines the politics of popular feminism by analyzing the visibility of tears within the show. Viewing tears as a signifying practice, this article investigates how they reveal the paradox of contemporary Chinese popular feminism to expose its ambivalence and contradictions. We suggest that tears signify popular feminism’s ambiguous stance toward patriarchal values, neoliberal principles, and state control. This study contends that the show’s popular feminism presents critical possibilities despite its inherent limitations, such as refraining from directly challenging patriarchal dominance and systematic gender inequalities. While tears reveal middle-aged women’s aspirations for self-realization, recognition, and empowerment, they also expose how neoliberalism emotionally exploits women through pursuing personal achievement. Tears enhance the visibility of women’s struggles and illuminate the formation of sisterhood within a male-dominated society. They also intertwine with state-promoted notions of sisterhood, which ultimately reinforce political allegiance to nationalism. Therefore, this study proposes that popular feminism in Sisters Who Make Waves acts as a double-edged sword. It reinforces hegemonic power while exposing its emotional disturbances. Such ambivalence creates a space for reimagining popular feminism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]