Profile

I am a global media researcher with a profound interest in exploring culture through the lenses of fandom, gender/sexuality, and digital media. My work delves into how media, particularly within digital spaces, both shapes and is shaped by everyday interactions and broader social structures, including inequality and geopolitics.

My research focuses on two interconnected areas: (1) transnational queer media and fandom, and (2) the intersections of gender, sexuality, and everyday practices. Additionally, I am also investigating the self-representation and media consumption of the Hong Kong diaspora in the UK within digital spaces.

Trained in sociology, I employ a qualitative, empirical, and decolonial methodology, enabling me to deeply explore the complexities of cultural phenomena and their implications for social inequality.

Central to my work is the examination of the intricate relationships between media texts, audiences, and producers, as well as the dynamics of consumption and participation in transnational and digital contexts. I critically analyse how media representations engage with structural inequalities, particularly in the context of the increasing diversity in gender and sexual representations in Global Asia. My research scrutinises how these visual narratives empower communities, influence individual practices, and either challenge or reinforce existing inequalities.

Currently, I am working on my first monograph, titled The Middle Gender: Resistance against Gender Binary in Sinophone Asia, which is based on my award-winning PhD research. The manuscript is currently under contract with Amsterdam University Press.

I have been a member of the editorial board for Media, Culture and Society since 2020. To date, I've edited the themed special section 'Mediating Gender in Digital China: Post-2020s Discourse and Representation', and co-edited themed sections 'Encounters with Western Media Theory' and the ongoing 'Rethinking Keywords in Media and Cultural Studies during and beyond COVID-19.'

I have been interviewed by various international media outlets on issues related to gender representation in UK reality TV, government regulations and the Chinese entertainment industry, queer media in Hong Kong, as well as the new Hong Kong migrant community in the UK.

Between 2021 and 2023, I served as a core task force member of the ESRC-NSTC-funded Taiwan-UK Sex, Gender, Sexual Minority (SGS) Health Research Network (TUSHRN). During this time, I co-organised an international online symposium and conference that brought together health researchers across the globe to foster cross-national collaboration in LGBTQ+ health research. In April 2023, I was invited to visit Taiwan, where I met with key stakeholders in the local LGBTQ+ community, participated in discussion panels, and delivered guest lectures on qualitative approaches to LGBTQ+ health and well-being research. Outputs I produced for this network included an article on the geopolitics of queer archives (co-first authored with Wen Liu in Sexualities) and a podcast on queer cultures in Hong Kong and Taiwan. You can find more information about TUSHRN at: https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/centres-projects-groups/tushrn#welcome

Since 2023, I have been a member of the ESEA (East and Southeast Asian) Online Hub. I have created a public education video for the ESEA Heritage Month online resources.

I co-founded and co-convene the cross-faculty research network Fan Studies Lancaster.

I have extensive experience working with community partners and advocacy groups, and I have delivered public lectures and workshops on topics related to queer media and the LGBTQ+ communities. Some examples of organisations I've worked with include the QTI Coalition of Colour at Cambridge, Queer China UK, Formosa Salon, Queer Asia (SOAS), Queer@King's, and Asia-Art-Activism.

I'm interested in supervising PhD projects in the following areas:

• Fandom and Participatory Culture
• Transnational Asian popular culture
• Queer Sinophone studies
• Yuri/GL (Girls' Love) media in Asia