Reading Questions for Session 17

Please select 8 of these questions to answer in a few sentences and generate two additional questions of your own.

"Gender and Everyday Evasions: Moving with Cantopop"

  1. Why does Erni think it is helpful to emphasize the idea of "ambivalence" in this article?
  2. Summarize, or state in your own words, the following statement: "In a sense then, this paper explores Hong Kong's changing identity within the sight and sound of popular culture, and along the way, traces some of the significant ways in which gender politics is inscribed, coded, negotiated, performed, or simply flirtingly posed on the surface of popular culture."
  3. How does Erni describe the gender politics of Sam Hui's music?
  4. What are some of the ways in which the male dominance of the Cantopop industry is perpetuated over time? In other words, Erni notes that women experience "structural exclusion" from Cantopop production—how?
  5. Who was Anita Mui? How does Erni describe her music and image? How was it different from or similar to other currents in Cantopop?
  6. Why does Erni think political and nationalistic songs are "an exclusive male territory"?

"Faye and the Fandom of a Chinese Diva"

  1. What does Fung think are two reasons that fans are a useful focal point for a discussion about Faye Wong and gender?
  2. How does Wong "model an autonomous lifestyle for her fans," especially her female fans? What kinds of values and qualities do Wong's female fans seem to find influential and inspiring?
  3. What does Fung think is the value of Wong's "distance" and "aloofness" to her fans? What does this distance have to do with gender?
  4. How does Fung think that mainland Chinese and Hong Kong fans differ in their appreciation of Faye Wong?

Write Your Own Questions!

  1.  
  2.