For Cindy Zhong, like many young Chinese women, a relaxing night used to mean curling up with a steamy story about two men in love.Then her favorite authors, and their tales, started disappearing.Fans of the popular Danmei same-sex romance genre, written and read mainly by straight women, say the Chinese government is carrying out the largest crackdown yet on it, effectively neutering the enjoyment.In the vast world of fantasy, Danmei is relatively straightforward: Two men stand in for idealized relationships, from chaste to erotic.
Some scholars believe the stories appeal to Chinese women as a way to sidestep the country’s conservative gender values and imagine relationships on a more equal footing."Women turn to Danmei for pure love, especially as they face pressure from families, peers and society to get married and have kids,” said Aiqing Wang, a senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool who studies Chinese popular culture and internet literature.The once-niche Chinese literary subculture has seen a boom in recent years, with novels adapted into blockbuster television series and translated into Western languages.Danmei — also known as “Boys Love” in English — has also caught the eye of Chinese authorities.
At least dozens of writers have been interrogated, arrested and charged with producing and selling obscene materials in China in the past year, according to media reports and witness accounts online.Some writers have stopped publishing or taken work offline.Websites have shut down or removed many stories, leaving the tamest behind.“Chinese female readers can no longer find a safe, uncensored space to place our desires,” said Zhong, an educator in her 30s.Writers have said they enjoy directing lives that aren’t their own.“When I was writing, I felt so powerful that I could create a world,” said Zou Xuan, a teacher who used to write Danmei for fun and has been reading them for a decade.China’s government has been tightening its gr...