Embodied Intimacies and Moving Beyond: Sexting and Affective Sexuality in Chinese Queer Contexts

In China, where heteronormative stigma and censorship suppress gay intimacy, sexting emerges as a subversive act, offering a private counterspace distinct from heterosexual norms. Integrating digital intimacy and affect theories, it proposes “more-than-digital-affect” to frame sexting’s multi-sensory impacts—pleasure, trust, resilience—that transcend digital boundaries, reshaping offline queer sexuality. Through semi-structured interviews with Chinese gay men, this research reveals sexting as a “ love language ” challenging deviant narratives, contributing a nuanced, marginalized perspective to sexuality studies.