Dr Camilla Bassi - What's Radical about Reality TV? An Unexpected Tale of a Chinese Antihero and Space for Lesbian Identity

Date: 06 March 2013, 5.00pm
Location: Seminar Room, Beech Grove House

Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies Seminar Series

Dr Camilla Bassi: Cultural, Communication and Computing Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University

Building upon previous research on Shanghai's gay political economy, this presentation will explore the remarkable phenomenon of the reality television show, "Mongolian Cow Sour Yogurt Super Girl Contest". Both the popularity and consequences of Super Girl will be discussed, through the analysis of interview material and secondary documentation. Moreover, connections will be made between the socio-cultural and the politico-economic aspects of the Super Girl phenomenon, in order to fully illustrate the radical space that was created in China for an antihero and lesbian identity; so radical it seems, that the Super Girl show was axed.