China’s Transgender Community
by Guest Contributor Monica Roberts, originally published at TransGriot
Since the turn of the 21st century, China has begun making another ‘Great Leap Forward’ in terms of modernization and putting itself in the world’s spotlight.
We got a glimpse of just how much it has progressed during the recently concluded Beijing Games, and its space program continues to take giant leaps as well toward their ultimate goal of becoming the second nation to put a man on the moon.
One interesting thing that has come to light is that China, like ‘errbody’ else on our planet, has an estimated 400,000 transgender people in their midst. Over 1000 of them have had surgery, and we in the West have been getting introduced to them and their stories as well.
It’s not unusual now to Google ‘china transsexuals’ and see many links to various stories about transpeople in China. But all Chinese transsexuals probably owe a major debt to internationally acclaimed dancer Jin Xing. Her struggles and eventual SRS in 1995 basically opened the door that has made life easier for other transpeople across China to follow.
Chinese society has become more open and tolerant towards transsexuals to the point where in 2004, Chen Lili won the Miss China Universe pageant and was poised to become the first transgender contest in the 50 plus year history of the event that was being staged in Ecuador that year. But rules were quickly passed limiting the event to cisgender women and Chen was barred from participating.
Maybe the Donald should rethink that ban. Some of the biggest traffic days I get on TransGriot is when I post video or photos from various transgender pageants around the world.
As the examples of Jin Xing and Chen Lili show, Chinese transpeople are being fully integrated into society. They can now change their ID cards without hassles, their civil rights are protected by law, and after they have surgery can get married and have those marriages recognized by the state as valid.
They are examples that the rest of the judgmental Western world would do well to emulate, especially in my own country.
(Photo Credit: China Daily)
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
Ugly Deaf Muslim Punk Gurl! wrote:
Nice. For the Western portrayal of China as a so-called oppressive, repressive, restricted “commie” nation that silences its citizens, your article indicates otherwise.
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 11:50 am ¶
Nate wrote:
Well, till 2001 homosexuality was classified as a ‘mental illness’ in China (source – human rights watch).
Social progress (or the appearance of such) in some areas doesn’t mean that full politcal freedoms (or even a consistent level of tolerance to people seen as deviating from the ’social norm’ (or what’s perceived by the state as the national identity) exists.
Like, say Goering’s restrictions on private corporation dividends and employers’ ‘right to fire’ or Mussolini’s labour code. Which still informs most of the formal (if not exactly enforced in the gray market) labour code in Brazil.
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 12:29 pm ¶
Kai wrote:
Interesting piece, nicely done.
FYI “transexual” is not really a commonly preferred term, some may object. Just sayin.
Nate, I went to school in China in the 90s and saw a lot of wild things that I’m guessing would mightily surprise all the stick-wavers with a certain stereotyped picture of life there. I’d offer that the thing about China that people in “the West” almost always fail to understand is that there are simply too many people to control with the kind of iron fist that is implied in most mass media coverage. The reason why the CCP style of governance seems so heavy-handed is that the central government is barely managing to keep a grip on the steering wheel, so everything seems kind of exaggerated and topsy-turvy and constantly in danger of skidding off the road.
As for “full political freedom”, yep, I’m working on trying to achieve that too. In the US.
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 1:35 pm ¶
Logan wrote:
I wish I could remember the details on a mini-story I heard at the pokertable here. One of my co-teachers, who teaches philosophy at the high school, was discussing something about the treatment of gay people in China. The students replied to him “But teacher, there are no gay people in China.” “Ok, assume that there were. How would they be treated.” “Oh, we’re very open, we would have no problem with anyone who was gay. But there are no gay people in China.”
The jist of it. Obviously, not exactly a model example to draw off of, but I was surprised reading this article on the acceptance of trans-gender people in China considering my perceptions.
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 1:40 pm ¶
Aris wrote:
Chen Lili is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 1:53 pm ¶
Phrone wrote:
That’s terrible about the exclusion of transwomen from the pageant! D<
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 2:30 pm ¶
Restructure! wrote:
Very cool topic, but I am always bothered when the term “modernization” is used for any non-Western country. We assume that non-Western countries are unmodern by default and that Western countries are modern by default. We also think that technological advancement is an indication of social advancement.
Posted 25 Feb 2009 at 7:50 pm ¶
Lisa wrote:
This article overstates the level of tolerance in China. Actually, homophobia and hostility to transsexuals remains high, and even Jin Xing is viewed a bit as a freak show. Oddly, perhaps because of Jin’s trailblazing and public stance, sex changes seem to be less controversial than homosexuality.
Things have improved A LOT in the big cities over the past five years. In 2001, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center defied censorship to do a play about AIDS and predjudice againts its carriers; and since then there at least has been more public openness about that. I work in fashion and the arts, and those worlds are places where people can be comfortably Out. But, I also have gay Chinese friends in other professions who fear losing their jobs, getting disowned by their families if they came out. I have Chinese friends who freak out when they learn another friend of mine is gay. And this is in liberal Shanghai; in smaller cities, rural China, the machismo North or the very traditional South, I’m guessing it’s even more conservative. Most gay Chinese still live in the closet and get married and have the obligatory kid out of family pressure.
Nonetheless, gay rights are making great strides in China. There’s one activist who introduces a gay marriage bill every year – it never passes, but the gesture generates discussion. The philosophical foundations in China – athiesm, buddhism, daoism – don’t condemn homosexuality like the Western jude0-christian-islamic monotheisms do. (Although, worryingly, christianity is catching on here as a trendy way to be Western and thus “modern”, and there are a lot of illegal foreign missionaries.) There is a rich tradition of gay culture in Chinese history. So I am pretty optimistic for the future – but this article paints a far rosier picture than what exists at the moment.
Posted 26 Feb 2009 at 1:49 am ¶
Lisa wrote:
Additionally, I’m offended when writers casually use “great leap forward” and “cultural revolution” (and “red”, “Mao”, etc) jokes in articles about China. Those were political horrors that destroyed millions of lives. Virtually every Chinese family lost loved ones in these. It’s on par with making casual holocaust jokes regarding Israel. Really, really tasteless.
It’s also bad writing. Unoriginal cliches for the cheap punch of being “clever”.
Posted 26 Feb 2009 at 1:58 am ¶
Lisa wrote:
Sorry to triple post, but also: after the controversy with Chen Lili, someone launched a beauty pageant just for transgender women. Not sure if it continued in subsequent years, or was just a one-time thing; that was in 2006 I think, and I don’t really pay much attention to beauty pageants, find them creepy and dehumanizing.
China loves its pageants though, they’re very trendy. A mix of social competitiveness and the commercialization of women’s sexuality, I think. The narrow, unhealthy and unattainable for most beauty ideals here seem to become ever more intense, and plastic surgery is viewed as a career investment. Ugh.
Posted 26 Feb 2009 at 2:06 am ¶
theboxman wrote:
Echo on Restructure’s point regarding the conflation of modernity with the West, as if the modern were the West’s natural birthright, in effect, completely effacing how the processes of modernization — industrialization, capital accumulation, etc. — in Europe and North America were predicated precisely on the exploitation of its colonial peripheries.
Posted 26 Feb 2009 at 2:41 am ¶
Daniel wrote:
I think most people who have some knowledge and/or experiences with almost anything related with China (the P.R.C.) is quite aware of the many problems it has from the past, today and possible future. The bothersome issue is really how will people inform those around the world who may take interest. There’s a lot of media outlets, blogs and such which show quite an extreme view, not just the negative parts but also the positive parts, not quite balance, or entirely presented.
With regards to this website’s theme of race and media, I think one reason why this article attracted readers is that many people around the world do have stereotypes and assumptions (may or may not be justified) of this part of the world which could affect relations and understanding…on the national level to the individual.
Frankly speaking, I don’t mean to belittle the seriousness of such topics, but to be brutally honest, it is really hard for many countries/societies (especially Western) to make such criticisms without reflecting upon their own sins. While this comparison isn’t entirely leveled, nonetheless, it is going to take a lot more than external political statements/pressure to deal with that superpower.
Posted 26 Feb 2009 at 3:36 am ¶
Daniel wrote:
I guess what I wanted to really say regarding the extreme views, is that it’s almost overkill. Sometimes, people will go too far in their methods of exposing the sins of that society or paint too much of a “rosier” picture as some might say, which could slow down progress, and affect whatever that needs to be worked on.
The thing many people should be afraid of the most, for both those who have positive to very negative sentiments regarding this topic, is if people become too “desensitized” or apathetic to those issues. Either that or people become too extreme,(in their thoughts and actions) in which both cases would be not good. It could happen because of this media overkill.
Posted 26 Feb 2009 at 3:49 am ¶
Nate wrote:
@Kai. Yeah, that’s very true. And I probably should of chosen my words but more carefully… ‘full political freedom’ is a very loaded term. And certainly doesn’t exit in the part of the west I’m in (UK). More so than maybe some other places but still very dependent on privilege (class and race)…
Posted 26 Feb 2009 at 6:12 am ¶
Beth wrote:
I’m curious; what about transgendered men?
Posted 26 Feb 2009 at 5:47 pm ¶
Lena F. wrote:
I truly think this is amazing, especially for a country like China, whose people and their culture is always looked at as being very reserved, shy, and submissive. Also, this is shocking because of the fact that Asians are typically seen in the media as being asexual. Whereas in actuality, China is probably more accepting of transgendered that the U.S.
However, when pointed out on the blog that once people get their sex changed to their preferred sex through surgery, then they can get married. My question is, if someone did not or could not get the operation done, could they still have the same right?
In terms of the pageant that featured a transgendered person, that will probably take a few more years for even a transgendered person can enter a pageant that is so grand, like the Miss America or Miss USA pageant. One, because the Miss USA pageant is regulated by Donald Trump and I highly doubt that this will fly past him without him stating his disapproval of it. Second, transgendered is still a taboo topic for people. I honestly think that people are just now starting to accept homosexuality, at least recognize it will always be and there is nothing they can really do about, but with transgendered, I feel like that is still not a topic to be discussed freely in the public. Lastly, because these pageants are suppose to represent our country, people do not want our country to be looked at by other countries as immoral or strange. Therefore, a transgendered person representing the United States is very difficult to come into existence.
In history and in current days, China has also been seen as innovators and inventors. Maybe in accepting transgendered people who be the next thing that the Western societies will look into, just by looking at China. Also, as with everything, the US want to be the best at everything, so whatever China does great, the U.S. will probably try to be better at it than China has because that is the way the U.S. rolls.
Posted 27 Feb 2009 at 2:53 am ¶
Monica Roberts wrote:
@Lisa,
Since when did you become a snarky writing critic? Since you went there, I don’t see any Weblog awards badges on your blog.
All I was trying to do was provide a snapshot of the transgender community in China, not write a dissertation on it.
Since you see to think your writing skills and knowledge of China are better than mine, let’s see you take a stab at it.
Posted 28 Feb 2009 at 2:45 am ¶
Monica Roberts wrote:
Thanks for the link love Latoya!
Posted 28 Feb 2009 at 2:46 am ¶
Marie Noris / Merv wrote:
I came across you article and wanted to comment on the reaction of Chinese people toward a transgender person from a different perspective. I am an American transgender, MTF, living in city called Nanning, in southern China. I have been here for a few months and I have found that dressed as a man I gather a some on lookers, however the people are very nice and tend to go out of there way to help you. Dressed as a fairly passable woman I attract about the same amount of on lookers, maybe a few more. When I speak however all doubt of my true gender is removed and it is very noticeable in the way I am treated. No one is openly hostile to me nor do they seem to make any rude comments, but the nice treatment is replaced by fear, and a little repulsion. This is not to say that there are not people here that accept me as a woman and treat me as they would anyone else. In most cases I have met them as a man and then told them that I am a preoperative transgender woman. The younger generation seems to accept me first as a curiosity and then as a woman or at least, a man in women’s clothing. People my age tend to be reserved but accepting. The older generations, for the most part, tend to only accept me as a mater of polite manners, and tend not to want to involve themselves with me in any way, unless they must.
I do have a lot of fear about dressing in public without a friend or two with me. This is not because I fear being accosted or harassed. What I fear is that for one reason or another I will be questioned by the police and be unable to communicate who and what I am. All of my documents have my mail name and the face of a man on them. I have no ideal what the authorities would do to me if I were to be questioned and they discover that I am a man and by extension, mentally defective. Or worse, I am held in jail until they determine what to do with me. Wile I may have some protection under the laws of China, there is still a lot of “gray area” in the law that I would neatly fit into.
There are a lot of issues that China and the rest of the world face when it comes to transgendered people. I do think that they are off to a good start and the people of Nanning China are very accepting of me.
Posted 15 Jun 2009 at 9:36 am ¶