Interracial Marriage on Douyin: Performing the Oriental Self to Be the Significant Other

This research explores the portrayal of Chinese masculinities in the context of interracial marriages on Douyin, Chinese TikTok. It examines how their self-representations are shaped by the intersectionality of gender, race, and algorithms and contribute to the broader discourses on race, power, and identity in China. Through purposive sampling on Douyin, this study investigates how Chinese men navigate and showcase their identities in relation to the significant Other in these interracial unions to garner viewership. While previous research has shed light on the gender tensions in Chinese-foreign interracial marriage through the binary racial angel of whiteness and blackness, this research comprehensively investigated couples from different geographical background to analyze the Othering practices. Unlike previous research that has focused disproportionately on Chinese women marrying foreign husbands, this study centers on how Chinese men are increasingly showcasing foreign wives on Douyin. Three key themes emerge from this study: 1. Through the celebration of Chineseness by embracing Chinese culture and navigating Chinese modernity, the marriages of Chinese men to foreign women are framed as signifiers of enhanced masculinities and emblematic of the nation’s ascending geopolitical prowess; 2. A transnational Chinese masculinity is constructed as a responsible patron at home/homeland; and 3. A self-representation of Chinese identity, referred to as a new “Oriental Self,” which amasses patriotic viewers and monetizes this attention for economic gains on Douyin.