In the Shadow of the Body Ideal: Masculinities at the Intersection of Class, Migration, and Sexuality in Urban China

Although research has highlighted the importance of sexualized body ideals in gay communities worldwide, little is known about how these ideals shape the experiences of gay migrants in China. Drawing on intersectionality and masculinity theories, this study analyzes the relationship between body image and masculinity among internal gay migrants in urban China. Based on in depth interviews with 44 self-identified gay migrants and now live in Shenzhen, the findings show that dominant ideals in urban gay communities, centered on muscularity, structure masculinity hierarchies and generate class-based pressures. Building on the 3R framework, the study identifies three negotiation patterns: reliance, reformulation, and rejection, while showing how internal migration gives these strategies distinct meanings. These patterns reveal the interplay between individual agency and structural constraints, and extend existing frameworks of masculinity negotiation by demonstrating how class, migration, and community contexts shape body image strategies among gay migrants in China.