So I replied to this gem of a post and then got blocked by OP, because apparently if you are a Chinese person explaining why the MDZS novel does not, in fact, read homophobically to a Chinese audience, then that qualifies as “clowning”. I am very tired of non-Chinese people consuming danmei works and then shitting on them with interpretations that do not take into account Chinese cultural context, so here you go, MDZS/MXTX fandom - my take as a Chinese person as to why this is a wildly misguided reading of novel LWJ:
OP, I feel like you are levelling these accusations about the novel (and by extension its fans) partly because you are not aware of Chinese cultural context, and frankly it reads as culturally insensitive at best and extremely ignorant at worst.
The “homophobic stereotypes” that you accuse LWJ of falling into are (1) not really supported by the text to my knowledge and tbh I assume you read an English fan translation so you can’t exactly argue points with any certainty here; and (2) mostly very Western stereotypes that don’t hold the same significance in Chinese culture.
Let’s play ball with your interpretation here - if MXTX did accidentally write a character that lines up with these stereotypes (which I truly don’t think she did, per my first point), do you realize that for Chinese audiences, MXTX did not accidentally write an “age old homophobic stereotype”..? That maybe Chinese LGBTQ+ people have legitimate reasons for liking LWJ’s character that have nothing to do with internalized homophobia? Maybe our major concerns don’t line up with yours and maybe we find comfort in novel LWJ and WWX for reasons that you, a non-Chinese person, cannot understand? Like sorry, I had no idea what the fuck you were getting at with “LWJ is an age-old homophobic stereotype” because, as a Chinese person, I treasure this novel from the bottom of my heart since it flies in the face of our age old stereotypes. I got to see gay characters that were not portrayed as mentally ill, not throwing a family/marriage into total disarray through their unfilial romance, and actually getting a happy, orthodox marriage where they effectively co-parent a kid and mentor many others. This is my list of priorities in comparison to yours - the stereotypes I was happy to see broken down vs. the ones you projected onto a translation you read.
But that is really only scratching the surface at the main problem I have with this post, which is that for some reason you think CQL LWJ is comparatively ideal representation of a gay man. While I will always appreciate the way CQL went to extreme lengths to gay-code the fuck out of the show, the reality is that CQL LWJ is the product of CCP censorship. And this is what really convinces me that you don’t have the best interests of LGBTQ+ fans at heart, or at least not the Chinese ones: you praised a characterization of LWJ that was born from actual, material oppression of LGBTQ+ people while shitting all over a character and work that many gay Chinese people find comfort in. Again, I love and appreciate CQL (and even love CQL LWJ!) but your post is extremely tone deaf when you consider the realities for Mainland Chinese people and diaspora.
I also took a look at your other posts and was unsurprised to see fujoshi discourse, which of course misused a term in a language that you do not speak, shat all over a genre that (again) many LGBTQ+ Chinese people find comfort in, and assumed that MXTX is a cishet woman just because she writes danmei. There has been a lot written by both Chinese and Japanese LGBTQ fans about how this type of discourse is misguided at best and racist at worst.
Lastly - as a bisexual, I find it biphobic that you assume WWX only ends up developing feelings for a man simply because he was summoned into MXY’s body… If you don’t see how that is a biphobic assertion, then I cannot help you.
Now, unlike the OP, I will not pretend to speak for all LGBTQ+ people (not even all LGBTQ+ Chinese people). Yes, the novel has its flaws and Chinese audiences have their own grievances with it. However, it’s disingenuous to pretend that the MDZS novel is the most homophobic thing ever, and culturally insensitive and patronizing to assume that LGBTQ+ Chinese people only like MDZS because we have some kind of internalized homophobia. In attempting to critically engage with media, let’s not veer into racism, thanks.
