Herstory : The Queerness Under the Gender Comedy and the Power of Subversion

Abstract The film Herstory , in addressing popular gender issues in China, expresses its criticism of the patriarchal system and concern for gender equality in an alternative way. Unlike traditional female perspectives on this film, this article analyses the queerness of the film hidden in its comedic mode and applies queer theory. This article argues that the queerness embodied in Wang Tiemei, following her failed attempt to adopt male social roles and ‘be a man’, along with the metaphorical act of competing with men for subjectivity, opens up a new perspective for critiquing the patriarchy. Therefore, gender fluidity is the main point of this article. By insisting on the direct ‘crossing’ of binary gender, Herstory frustrates the operation of power behind the gender binary structure, builds a communicative bridge between two genders, and opens up a ‘third space’ beyond the binary genders, in which it shows how the traditional patriarchal structure itself is incoherent and chaotic.