Angel Martinez is a culture writer and content strategist based in Manila, Philippines. She recently finished a one-year fellowship at Kontinentalist, an award-winning editorial studio that tells data stories about Asia. Today, she writes about the internet, identity, and their intersections for publications like 

. When she’s not knee-deep in the written word, you can find her crying over the New Year’s Eve scene from 

and cafe-hopping in pursuit of the perfect Spanish latté.

People are looking for a visceral reprieve from the permacrisis

Essential Escapism

People want their identities to be reflected in mainstream culture

Collective Equity

People are interrogating the meaning of gender in a polarised society

Byegender

People expect brands to rise to society’s challenges

Shared Values

People are constructing meaningful collectives 

World Builders

Polarised Populations

Dr Oscar Zhou is a lecturer in Media Studies at the School of Arts, University of Kent. He obtained a Master's degree in Globalisation and Communications at the University of Leicester and a PhD in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex. His research interests lie at the intersections of ethnographic research, gender and sexuality studies, media and cultural studies, and digital communication, focusing on the ways LGBTQ+ communities engage with different technologies and texts in their everyday life.

China

Global

Citizenship

Community and grassroots

Media and Entertainment

TV, film, and social media video

China Daily

Interview with Dr Oscar Zhou conducted by the author

Vogue Business

Journal of Contemporary China

The Guardian

Nikkei Asia

South China Morning Post

Statista

Euromonitor

Boston Consulting Group

Daxue Consulting

BBDO Guerrero

Jing Daily

Weiqing Li, Zejun Li, Zheyu Pei, and Xiaoyan Zhao

Divya Garg and Xiaofei Yang

Boys’ Love media usually features fresh-faced male characters encountering slightly varied struggles. 

g smartly subverts these tropes, placing a queer couple in a distinctly traditional Chinese context and putting their character development at the centre of the story.