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Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System
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Runze Ding
The Journal of Sex Research, Pages: 1 - 11
Swansea University Author:
Runze Ding
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© 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/00224499.2026.2670473
Abstract
The “1/0” (Top/Bottom) system has long dominated Chinese gay culture, functioning as a rigid semiotic infrastructure that organizes sexual roles through heteronormative gender norms and hegemonic masculinity. The recent emergence of “Side” – a label for men who primarily engage in non-penetrative se...
| Published in: | The Journal of Sex Research |
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| ISSN: | 0022-4499 1559-8519 |
| Published: |
Informa UK Limited
2026
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71857 |
| Abstract: |
The “1/0” (Top/Bottom) system has long dominated Chinese gay culture, functioning as a rigid semiotic infrastructure that organizes sexual roles through heteronormative gender norms and hegemonic masculinity. The recent emergence of “Side” – a label for men who primarily engage in non-penetrative sex – poses a disruption to this binary order. Drawing on constructivist grounded theory and in-depth interviews with 15 gay men in China who identified as or practiced “Side,” this study unpacks the lived meanings of this identity within a digitalized match-making landscape. Our findings reveal that “Side” is constructed not merely as a sexual preference, but as a multifaceted strategy of well-being, resistance, and digital agency. First, participants articulated “Side” as a praxis of bodily comfort and psychological safety, shifting the paradigm from a performance-oriented “homosexist” script to a well-being-centric ethos. Second, “Side” functions as a discursive shield against the effeminophobia and internalized hierarchies inherent in the 1/0 system, challenging the reproduction of patriarchal power dynamics in same-sex intimacy. Finally, within the algorithmic environment of dating apps, “Side” is deployed as a tactical tool for “data gaming,” allowing individuals to strategically navigate visibility and manage relational expectations. By decoupling sexual legitimacy from penetrative acts, the rise of “Side” suggests an important and still unfolding development in contemporary Chinese gay communities, one that opens space for more flexible and well-being-centered understandings of intimacy. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China [Project No. EdUHK PDFS2425-8H01]. |
| Start Page: |
1 |
| End Page: |
11 |