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Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System

Liang Cao Orcid Logo, Runze Ding Orcid Logo

The Journal of Sex Research, Pages: 1 - 11

Swansea University Author: Runze Ding Orcid Logo

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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...

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Published in: The Journal of Sex Research
ISSN: 0022-4499 1559-8519
Published: Informa UK Limited 2026
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71857
first_indexed 2026-05-06T10:49:04Z
last_indexed 2026-05-19T11:18:22Z
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spelling 2026-05-18T14:04:19.4303955 v2 71857 2026-05-06 Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System e91044d4c2380a85b8861c7d0179e124 0000-0003-2284-5736 Runze Ding Runze Ding true false 2026-05-06 CACS 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. Journal Article The Journal of Sex Research 0 1 11 Informa UK Limited 0022-4499 1559-8519 12 5 2026 2026-05-12 10.1080/00224499.2026.2670473 COLLEGE NANME Culture and Communications School COLLEGE CODE CACS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China [Project No. EdUHK PDFS2425-8H01]. 2026-05-18T14:04:19.4303955 2026-05-06T11:45:11.5948774 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - Media, Communications, Journalism and PR Liang Cao 0000-0002-6569-3771 1 Runze Ding 0000-0003-2284-5736 2 71857__36778__96116d4000614a548a8eba2455190ac1.pdf 71857.VOR.pdf 2026-05-18T14:00:10.5774824 Output 1171943 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System
spellingShingle Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System
Runze Ding
title_short Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System
title_full Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System
title_fullStr Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System
title_full_unstemmed Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System
title_sort Beyond 1 and 0: Unpacking the Lived Meanings of “Side” In Chinese Gay Men’s Semiotic Match-Making System
author_id_str_mv e91044d4c2380a85b8861c7d0179e124
author_id_fullname_str_mv e91044d4c2380a85b8861c7d0179e124_***_Runze Ding
author Runze Ding
author2 Liang Cao
Runze Ding
format Journal article
container_title The Journal of Sex Research
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publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 0022-4499
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doi_str_mv 10.1080/00224499.2026.2670473
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - Media, Communications, Journalism and PR{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - Media, Communications, Journalism and PR
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description 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.
published_date 2026-05-12T12:58:02Z
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