Transnational white masculinity on Chinese social media: Western male vloggers’ self-representations during the covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Abstract This article explores how white Western male vloggers have sought to maintain their positive images among Chinese netizens on the Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the West and foreign migrants in China were lampooned and scorned due to rising Chinese nationalism. By analyzing these vloggers’ self-representations and the Chinese audience’s responses to them, the article discusses how white male identity is negotiated on China’s state-regulated social media platforms in this critical time. It shows that while Western male vloggers carefully represent themselves as ideal foreign migrants in China, they are subject to criticisms from their Chinese audience. In this process, the meanings attached to white male identity have become increasingly debated.