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Moving, sensing intersectionality: a case study of Miss China Europe
1University of Amsterdam.
Signs
|December 1, 2010
Summary
This study explores the experiences of ethnic Chinese women in the Netherlands through the Miss China Europe pageant. It highlights how they navigate dual identities and challenge invisibility by asserting agency through performance and audience discourse.
Area of Science:
- Transnational feminist studies
- Diaspora studies
- Sociology of identity
Background:
- The Miss China Europe pageant creates hypervisibility for Chinese diasporic women, contrasting with their usual societal invisibility.
- This study focuses on ethnic Chinese women born and/or raised in the Netherlands, examining their lived experiences.
Observation:
- Contestants negotiate "Chineseness" and "Dutchness," performing modern yet Chinese identities.
- Audience discussions reveal tensions surrounding ancestry ("blood issue") and language proficiency in defining Chineseness.
Findings:
- Marginalized women's agency can be understood through intersectionality, movements, and sensory experiences.
- The pageant highlights complex negotiations of identity, power, and belonging within the Chinese diaspora.
Implications:
- This research contributes to understanding the subjective consciousness, autonomy, and agency of diasporic Chinese women.
- It offers insights into how cultural performances can be sites for challenging subordination and asserting visibility.
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