Cross-Gender China

<p><em>Cross-Gender China</em>, the outcome of more than twenty years of theatrical and sociological research, deconstructs the cultural implications of cross-gender performance in today's China.</p><p></p><p>The recent revival in male-to-female cross-gender <i>nandan </i>performance in Chinese theatre raises a multitude of questions: it may suggest new gender dynamics, or new readings of old aesthetic traditions in new socio-cultural contexts. Interrogating the positions of the gender being performed and the gender doing the performing, this volume gives a broad cultural account of the contexts in which this unique performance style has found new life.</p> <p>Abstract </p><p></p><p>Dedication </p><p></p><p>Acknowledgements </p><p></p><p>Chapter 1. Introduction </p><p></p><p>Chapter 2. Cultural Obsession</p><p></p><p>The Making of China’s National Icon </p><p></p><p>The Rise of an All-Female Utopia </p><p></p><p>National Identity and the Formation of the Gender Aesthetics </p><p></p><p>Chapter 3. Mao’s "Gender Trouble" </p><p></p><p>The Downfall of the Cross-Gender Performance Tradition </p><p></p><p>From Theatre to Reality: Normalization of Female Masculinity </p><p></p><p>The Production of a Social Taboo </p><p></p><p>Chapter 4. The Revival </p><p></p><p>White Faced Gentleman: The Unofficial Return of Nandan </p><p></p><p>"Natural Selection" in the Aesthetic Regime: The Return of Traditional Femininity </p><p></p><p>The Mainstreaming of Drag in Popular Media </p><p></p><p>Chapter 5. The New Generation </p><p></p><p>"Two Spirited" M. Butterfly </p><p></p><p>The Superwoman Within</p><p></p><p>Intersex </p><p></p><p>Occasional Cross-Gender </p><p></p><p>Training </p><p></p><p>"Double Standard" </p><p></p><p>Employment Opportunities </p><p></p><p>Relationships </p><p></p><p>Success </p><p></p><p>Chapter 6. Rebel or Follow </p><p></p><p>When Theatre and Biology Intersect </p><p></p><p>Interplay: Desires, Identities and Transgression </p><p></p><p>Make Believe: Creating a Psychological Truth </p><p></p><p>The Performed and the Innate </p><p></p><p>The Drama of Reality</p><p></p><p>Sexual Artifice in Gender Transgression </p><p></p><p>Chapter 7. Conclusion</p><p></p><p>References </p><p></p><p>Appendix A. </p><p></p><p>Major interview questions </p><p></p><p>Appendix B. </p><p></p><p>List of Interviewees </p><p></p><p>Appendix C. </p><p></p><p>Glossary</p>