(Hetero)normative Chinese femininity in danmei: A case study of Moxiang Tongxiu’s Tianguan Cifu

Originating in Japan in the 1970s, Boys’ Love (BL) has since become a ‘transnational apparatus of love’ for women to explore their sexuality away from societal stigma and sociocultural gender inequality. The genre has garnered both commercial and academic attention, but a common point of contention within existing scholarship is its ability to either challenge or reinforce heteronormative power hierarchies. To that end, much of the previous research has examined the discourses among female fan communities or the portrayal and subversion of masculinity within the works. This article aims to address the oft-ignored representation of femininity and female characters within BL works by focusing on Moxiang Tongxiu’s Tianguan Cifu (Heaven Official’s Blessing), a popular Chinese BL or danmei novel. In examining the roles of five major named female characters in the novel, I argue that the characters fall under the common feminine stereotypes of Mother, Maiden and Monster. While the female characters’ narrative function is affected to some degree by the novel’s focus on a central gay romance, the author nevertheless appears to adhere to the traditional and modern Chinese gender ideologies regarding femininity, restricting any attempts to challenge gendered expectations to male bodies and characters.