The second type of transgression against more conservative, traditional Chinese values is the portrayal of gender fluidity in The Butterfly Lovers. It is no new concept or phenomenon in many other parts of the world. For example, gender variant individuals, known as two-spirit people, are a part of the indigenous Native community. Two-spirit individuals often hold important shaman and ritual roles in their society (Kimmel, 2000). These individuals are born biologically a specific sex, but can choose to identify with another. Similarly, the xanith population residing on the coast of Arabia are males who identify as women, some interchanging their identities throughout their lives (Kimmel, 2000). However, this is not the case certain places in
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Heteronormative sexual orientation is the only type of sexuality that is openly accepted within the Chinese community (UNDP, 2014). Therefore, it is surprising that although it is never made clear in the myth whether Liang developed feelings for Zhu before or after she reveals to him the truth of her actually being a woman, Liang’s ambiguous sexuality is never questioned by a large majority of the audience. All of the respondents stated that when they first saw or heard of The Butterfly Lovers, they assumed that Liang fell in love with Zhu before her revelation. That is, he fell in love with her while she was identified as a man. Conversely, when asked whether they have ever considered the possibility of Liang falling on the spectrum of bisexuality or homosexuality, only one individual, May, indicated that she raised this question in the past. When May was younger, she asked her mother whether Liang was “gay”, to which her mother became extremely upset, lecturing her about the impossibility of that. “If I was given the choice to go back to the past, I would choose to never ask her that question,” she states. May’s response indicates the degree to which non-heteronormativity is forbidden in the
Heteronormative sexual orientation is the only type of sexuality that is openly accepted within the Chinese community (UNDP, 2014). Therefore, it is surprising that although it is never made clear in the myth whether Liang developed feelings for Zhu before or after she reveals to him the truth of her actually being a woman, Liang’s ambiguous sexuality is never questioned by a large majority of the audience. All of the respondents stated that when they first saw or heard of The Butterfly Lovers, they assumed that Liang fell in love with Zhu before her revelation. That is, he fell in love with her while she was identified as a man. Conversely, when asked whether they have ever considered the possibility of Liang falling on the spectrum of bisexuality or homosexuality, only one individual, May, indicated that she raised this question in the past. When May was younger, she asked her mother whether Liang was “gay”, to which her mother became extremely upset, lecturing her about the impossibility of that. “If I was given the choice to go back to the past, I would choose to never ask her that question,” she states. May’s response indicates the degree to which non-heteronormativity is forbidden in the