Imagining happy ageing: Shipping older female celebrities in China

Narratives surrounding ageing celebrities constitute a significant resource for understanding how to grow old. While existing studies have largely focused on how ageing celebrities help older fans navigate their own ageing experiences, less attention has been paid to how ageing celebrities shape younger fans’ perceptions of ageing. To address this gap in intergenerational interaction, this study examines how young Chinese fans imagine happy ageing through shipping two older female celebrities. Through digital ethnography, we identified three interrelated core themes in these fan-driven imaginings of happy ageing: (1) strategically reinterpreting heterosexual marriage, (2) advocating for professional solidarity among older women, and (3) expanding notions of ageing femininity. These imaginations successfully challenge the heteronormativity within the discourse of celebrities’ successful ageing. However, we also demonstrate that young fans perceive ageless appearances and successful careers as prerequisites for happy ageing, which reflects the neoliberal characteristics of successful ageing among celebrities and inadvertently constitutes a form of ageing homonormativity towards older queer people. Therefore, by introducing a perspective on intergenerational interactions, this article not only explores the intergenerational influence of older celebrities on younger fans but also connects the issue of ageing with Chinese fan queer practices, thereby revealing the complexities of contemporary Chinese youth imaginations concerning queer ageing.