From denounced groupies to the cancelled idol: masculinities and cancel culture after the Chinese #MeToo

ABSTRACT The paper investigates the significant transformation in Chinese women’s gendered experiences of popular music following the Chinese #MeToo movement in 2018, through a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of two accusations of sexual misconduct against the Chinese-born Canadian rapper Kris Wu in 2016 and 2021. Drawing upon the concept of hegemonic masculinity, this paper identifies two discourses that legitimised Kris Wu’s scandal-tainted masculinity in 2016: “the immoral groupies”and “Kris Wu as a bodhisattva”. Moreover, it discusses how the two discourses, which were further empowered by nationalist narratives highlighted in the variety show The Rap of China that invited Kris Wu as a mentor, were challenged by the feminist and phallocentric cancelling discourses during the scandal in 2021. A comparison of narratives in the two scandals reveals that cancel culture’s mechanism, despite aligning with feminist assertions, failed to initiate systemic change in gender structures by focusing on individual male sexual failure rather than structural critique. This study contributes to the growing body of research on cancel culture in China through the lens of masculinity and provides new insights into the ongoing influence of #MeToo in China.