I would argue that non-White cultures (not crushed by Eurocentric imperialism) possess a scale of sexual and gender manifestation that is far more fluid than that found in th West. Much more is tolerated with far less reactionary resistsnce. Married Chinese men can be effeminate – just as married Chinese women can be masculine – it is not that big a deal in the everyday world of Chinese existence. Teenagers naturally discover their sexuality and identity without the interference of the State define this or punishing that – so what exactly was Qiu Miaolin rebelling against? Was it the Nationalist domination of Taiwan? Was it the fascist (patriarchal) reality of Kuomintang (KMT) reality? Was it the obvious US domination of her Chinese culture? Was it the left-over influence of the Imperial Japanese presence on the island? I note that in the Chinese-language assessments of Qiu Miaolin – the “gay” Japanese fascist – Yukio Mishima is mentioned. After WWII, Mishima propagated a male gay cult that practiced homo-erotic martial arts whilst dreaming of over-throwing the US-dominated government and returning Japan to its feudal greatness (he would lead a failed military uprising in the early 1970s – before committing ritual suicide). Mishima, of course, was an anti-China racist – so why admire him? I am not a woman and am not a lesbian – so I advise the reader to research freely and to think for themselves.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 