positions Rofel I The Traffic in Money Boys 435 der.His interpretation is testimony to a contradictory antinomy between a fluidity of desire,which is supposed to change continuously in line with a free trade,cosmopolitan market economy,and a renaturalization of a binary gender in its"recovery"from Maoist suppression. Ah Zhuang's views also echo a longer history of gender and sexuality in China in which,as Keith MacMahon has argued,one of the main signs of male privilege is the polygamous ability to have and manage multiple sexual partners.21 Ah Zhuang,as a medical doctor,is undoubtedly famil- iar with traditional medical prescriptions for male potency and the need to retain male energy.Moreover,as Judith Farquhar has argued,these tra- ditional medical texts have been recovered and popularized in post-Mao China through a discourse on excess and deficiency that is simultaneously an allegory about China's past and future.22 Ah Zhuang's critique of Ah Pei reflects an understanding that to"take care of"a woman sexually means that the male is in charge of managing pleasure because he needs to control the depletion of his own energies.Clearly,in Ah Zhuang's view,Ah Pei has not followed the proper prescriptions and therefore is not contributing to the proper development of social life in China. Ah Pei then proceeded to tell a story of the factory as a site of sexual excess. Rather than paint a conventional portrait of a large state-run factory as a place of hard work alternating with boredom,Ah Pei offered a tale in which it seemed a matter of course for people to develop their sexual proclivities in such an oppressive situation.Ah Pei explained,for example,how he started sleeping with one woman:Her husband had been arrested and thrown into prison for sleeping around with the younger women in the factory.His wife, the woman Ah Pei had an affair with,brought the women home for him.The husband was arrested,however,not owing to the moral probity of other fac- tory leaders but,according to Ah Pei,because another factory leader wanted to have sex with one of the young women and was jealous of this man and so reported him to the public security bureau.When this man's wife invited him over to her home,he figured he wouldn't get into any trouble having an affair with her.By implication,Ah Pei was explaining how he had come to have such a free and easy approach to sex.But Ah Zhuang used this story to conclude that Ah Pei had a profound lack of ethical sense when establishing relationships with people,particularly men. Published by Duke University Press
Rofel ❘ The Traffic in Money Boys 435 der. His interpretation is testimony to a contradictory antinomy between a fluidity of desire, which is supposed to change continuously in line with a free trade, cosmopolitan market economy, and a renaturalization of a binary gender in its “recovery” from Maoist suppression. Ah Zhuang’s views also echo a longer history of gender and sexuality in China in which, as Keith MacMahon has argued, one of the main signs of male privilege is the polygamous ability to have and manage multiple sexual partners.21 Ah Zhuang, as a medical doctor, is undoubtedly familiar with traditional medical prescriptions for male potency and the need to retain male energy. Moreover, as Judith Farquhar has argued, these traditional medical texts have been recovered and popularized in post-Mao China through a discourse on excess and deficiency that is simultaneously an allegory about China’s past and future.22 Ah Zhuang’s critique of Ah Pei reflects an understanding that to “take care of” a woman sexually means that the male is in charge of managing pleasure because he needs to control the depletion of his own energies. Clearly, in Ah Zhuang’s view, Ah Pei has not followed the proper prescriptions and therefore is not contributing to the proper development of social life in China. Ah Pei then proceeded to tell a story of the factory as a site of sexual excess. Rather than paint a conventional portrait of a large state-run factory as a place of hard work alternating with boredom, Ah Pei offered a tale in which it seemed a matter of course for people to develop their sexual proclivities in such an oppressive situation. Ah Pei explained, for example, how he started sleeping with one woman: Her husband had been arrested and thrown into prison for sleeping around with the younger women in the factory. His wife, the woman Ah Pei had an affair with, brought the women home for him. The husband was arrested, however, not owing to the moral probity of other factory leaders but, according to Ah Pei, because another factory leader wanted to have sex with one of the young women and was jealous of this man and so reported him to the public security bureau. When this man’s wife invited him over to her home, he figured he wouldn’t get into any trouble having an affair with her. By implication, Ah Pei was explaining how he had come to have such a free and easy approach to sex. But Ah Zhuang used this story to conclude that Ah Pei had a profound lack of ethical sense when establishing relationships with people, particularly men. positions Published by Duke University Press
positions positions 18:2 Fall 2010 436 Ah Zhuang then goaded Ah Pei into explaining his theory about lack of father love.Ah Pei told me about his violent father who drank too much and hit his children.Then one day,when Ah Pei was a teenager,he stood up to his father.But he always felt the keen loss of having a father's love.That's why he thinks he feels particularly comfortable with older men.Ah Zhuang promptly disagreed:"I don't agree with this,that a gay is someone who lacks father love,so they go in search of father love,or someone older.23 If his view is correct,then I am suspicious of whether he is really a gay."Ah Pei responded indirectly by saying that he knows for sure he will never get mar- ried,that even though no one living near him knows he is gay and thinks he goes around with women,he feels most comfortable with men.Ah Zhuang has a decided view of the correct way to be gay,one that contains a normal- izing pressure to present only positive or"natural"reasons why one would turn out to be gay.This naturalization of gay identity parallels the natu- ralization of the ability to be a desiring subject in post-Mao China.Both naturalizations create hierarchies of inclusion and exclusion that articulate with the neoliberal naturalization of social inequality.In contrast,Ah Pei implied that there are varied ways of having homoerotic encounters and involvements.His story highlights contingency,history,and experience.The inequalities in his story are class-and gender-based. Ah Pei then launched into a story of how he started to get involved with men.He had come into Tiananmen Square one evening and met some- one there.Ah Zhuang interrupted and said that Ah Pei had still been with women after that.But Ah Pei responded that though he had been with women after his first man,he nonetheless preferred men.He continued his story:"I walked by Zhongshan Park and went to the [public]toilet.I saw a lot of men who went in but didn't come out.I just stood there,didn't dare to go in and piss.What were they doing in there?Curiosity got the better of me.I went in and found two men playing around.After that,I went there every day.That's how I met a guy.That's how I started.I was just a little over twenty years old."He began to meet a lot of men through that public toilet,finally meeting his first real lover,Lao Chen (Old Chen).With Lao Chen,"I finally started a new life,I had a home." Ah Pei explained about the suffering that he had endured in order to be with men.One evening he was nabbed by the police.He lied and said he Published by Duke University Press
positions 18:2 Fall 2010 436 Ah Zhuang then goaded Ah Pei into explaining his theory about lack of father love. Ah Pei told me about his violent father who drank too much and hit his children. Then one day, when Ah Pei was a teenager, he stood up to his father. But he always felt the keen loss of having a father’s love. That’s why he thinks he feels particularly comfortable with older men. Ah Zhuang promptly disagreed: “I don’t agree with this, that a gay is someone who lacks father love, so they go in search of father love, or someone older.23 If his view is correct, then I am suspicious of whether he is really a gay.” Ah Pei responded indirectly by saying that he knows for sure he will never get married, that even though no one living near him knows he is gay and thinks he goes around with women, he feels most comfortable with men. Ah Zhuang has a decided view of the correct way to be gay, one that contains a normalizing pressure to present only positive or “natural” reasons why one would turn out to be gay. This naturalization of gay identity parallels the naturalization of the ability to be a desiring subject in post-Mao China. Both naturalizations create hierarchies of inclusion and exclusion that articulate with the neoliberal naturalization of social inequality. In contrast, Ah Pei implied that there are varied ways of having homoerotic encounters and involvements. His story highlights contingency, history, and experience. The inequalities in his story are class- and gender-based. Ah Pei then launched into a story of how he started to get involved with men. He had come into Tiananmen Square one evening and met someone there. Ah Zhuang interrupted and said that Ah Pei had still been with women after that. But Ah Pei responded that though he had been with women after his first man, he nonetheless preferred men. He continued his story: “I walked by Zhongshan Park and went to the [public] toilet. I saw a lot of men who went in but didn’t come out. I just stood there, didn’t dare to go in and piss. What were they doing in there? Curiosity got the better of me. I went in and found two men playing around. After that, I went there every day. That’s how I met a guy. That’s how I started. I was just a little over twenty years old.” He began to meet a lot of men through that public toilet, finally meeting his first real lover, Lao Chen (Old Chen). With Lao Chen, “I finally started a new life, I had a home.” Ah Pei explained about the suffering that he had endured in order to be with men. One evening he was nabbed by the police. He lied and said he positions Published by Duke University Press