As a Brace Fellow, Cindy Yang ’26 presented on Queer Resistance.
The Brace Fellows Program kicked off its first presentation of this academic year, with Cindy Yang ’26 delivering their presentation titled “Gray Space, Gay Space: Danmei Literature and Queer Resistance in China.” Danmei is a form of queer resistance writing that contrasts conspicuous forms of Chinese activism. Yang’s presentation delved into the various ways in which the Danmei literature navigates legislative gray spaces to represent the queer community.
Each year, Andover’s Brace Center for Gender Studies selects four students to research a topic pertaining to intersectional gender equity and inclusion, culminating in an extensive paper and presentation to the community. Yang discussed how their major research findings lent them a new perspective on different forms of activism.
“My family is Chinese-American. I grew up with this notion of activism as very overtly confrontational, very visible, very local. This is what I talked about in my presentation. I started to realize that activism doesn’t always have to look like that. It was really fascinating to me to see how these smaller, almost less visible actions that Chinese queer activists and also Danmei authors were doing were also contributing. They’re also a form of queer activism, helping normalize queer relationships,” said Yang.
Yang’s research also led to a deeper understanding of the complexities of how the Chinese government considers and manages its queer communities. Noticing the levels of censorship on social media platforms and on the internet, Yang discusses the effects of censorship.
“When you think about authoritarian governments [like] the Chinese government, it’s easy to think that they all look one way, [with policing] and that you’re not allowed to voice dissent at all. [But] there’s actually different levels of censorship on the Internet, online platforms where you can find [queer resistance] in literature and some social media platforms. It was interesting to think about how the government shapes this. In my presentation, [I talk about] the government’s policy on how [they] treat queer people is no approval, no disapproval, no promotion,” said Yang. “When you’re just talking about an individual and their expression and their space to be queer, legal invisibility can be empowering too.”
Yang’s presentation was overseen by their faculty advisor Dr. Lillia Cai, an Instructor in the Chinese Department. In an email to The Phillipian, Cai noted what stood out to her about Yang’s presentation and prompted students to continue pursuing research into the intersections of identity.
“I loved how they talked about how activism looks different in different cultures and within different cultural and historical contexts. It’s not always ‘out and proud,’ but can be subtle and grassroots-based. I would love for students to continue to do research around intersections of different aspects of identities, race, gender, etcetera, in different social and cultural contexts and push research beyond what’s familiar, which is the western qualitative research norms,” said Cai.
Patrick Xu ’27, a close friend of Yang’s, attended the presentation. Xu elaborated on his takeaways from their talk as well as the audience’s support of Yang.
“It was incredible. One of the best I had ever attended. It was well-thought-out, well-researched, and the presentation was engaging, and there was a great turnout… [Yang] showed three examples of queer activism in Danmei literature, and if you don’t [look] for the queer activism in those examples, it’s really hard to spot. So that close reading and analysis was really important and relevant for the topic,” said Xu.
Allison Lee ’28, who also attended the presentation, mentioned Yang’s elucidation of queerness in the context of ancient China. Lee explained how this highlighted the presence and treatment toward queerness before colonialism struck America.
“[Yang shared] a legend about this man who cuts his sleeve, because his lover is sleeping on his sleeve. He chooses to cut it instead of disturbing his lover. I thought that that was very sweet, and also a good reminder that a lot of queerness existed in many societies before colonialism, and it’s [only] very recently that there’s been more homophobia,” said Lee. “It was really funny because there was a lot of people in the audience who were very familiar with Danmei, so there were a few moments where [Yang] was referencing a certain book or web series, and you could tell that a portion of the audience was familiar by their reactions, and that they were enjoying it. I appreciated that.”
