Art Director & Creative Designer
“Sissy” is a derogatory term often used to shame boys and men whose appearance, behaviour or gender expression is perceived as feminine. Beginning with my own experiences of growing up with feminine gender expression, Sissy Boy explores how dominant ideals of masculinity in contemporary Chinese society shape the lives of boys and LGBTQ+ people who fall outside conventional gender expectations.
Drawing on personal reflection, interviews and research into gender-based bullying and cultural representations of masculinity, the project examines how these expectations are reinforced through everyday life, education and media. The project developed into two works, Imprint and Sissy Standard, exploring the issue from personal and social perspectives.
Part 1 - Moving Image
Imprint
Imprint explores the lasting psychological impact of being bullied for feminine gender expression. Drawing on my own childhood experiences and interviews with others who encountered similar discrimination, I recreated moments of school bullying to examine how ridicule, exclusion and humiliation can become internalised and remain imprinted on a person’s identity long after childhood.
Director & Performer& Creative& Stylist: Jiqiang(Johnny) Wen
Cinematographer: Thomas James Gilbert
Editing & Sound design: Jiqiang(Johnny) Wen & Mark Woo
Hair Make-up: Simin Zhu
Shooting Assistant: Jingjing Qi
Part 2 - Photography / Interactive Installation
Sissy Standard
Sissy Standard explores how dominant ideals of masculinity are reinforced through media and visual culture. Responding to the censorship and rejection of so-called “sissy” representations in contemporary China, I created a series of portraits depicting feminine and gender-nonconforming masculinities.
The photographs are concealed using the pixelated mosaic commonly associated with censorship in Chinese media. Audiences are invited to interact with the work and uncover the images beneath, reversing censorship from an act of concealment into an invitation to look. Through this interaction, the project questions who determines which forms of masculinity are considered acceptable, visible or “normal”.
Photographer: Jiqiang(Johnny) Wen
Cinematographer: Thomas James Gilbert
Editing & Animation: Jiqiang(Johnny) Wen
Music: Photograph (from “Her“) - Stacey Bassetti