‘Abstinence is panacea’: Reconstructing the ideal of Chinese masculinity through online community

Abstract

This article discusses the experience of Chinese young men relating to sexual abstinence through the Abstinence Bar (jiese ba 戒色吧) – an online community, with over six million members, dedicated to preaching the benefits of sexual abstinence – to identify how it represents a problematic strategy of ‘doing gender’ in post-socialist China. Based on a critical discourse analysis of the posts in the Abstinence Bar, we argue that the prosperity of the Abstinence Bar has re-stabilized the hegemony of dominant masculinities through cultural changes which intersect with individualism and nationalism. Consequently, it is essential to advocate evidence-based sexuality education among Chinese young people.