The Debate About Cultural Aesthetics in China

 Traditionally “macho” men are in, and effeminate men are out, according to the Chinese government’s latest crackdown on the entertainment industry in China. The Chinese government has now officially banned effeminate men from being displayed on Chinese television, expressing that television broadcasters should be promoting “revolutionary culture”, expanding an ongoing movement by the government to enforce official morality through control over business and society.

Companies and individuals in general within China are increasingly being placed under the pressure of conforming themselves to the ideal vision the government possesses for what they would consider a more powerful and healthier version of the nation.

TV regulators have been using an insulting and derogatory slang term for men who prefer to present themselves in a more traditionally feminine manner, “niang pao”, or “girlie guns”. Their mission is to prevent what they consider to be “abnormal esthetics”.

Cultural aesthetic in China surrounds very traditional and old-fashioned ideals about gender binary and how men and women have concrete, certain roles in society that they, aesthetically, must look the part of to correspond with and enforce the specific roles written out for them. When we think of what is traditionally masculine, we think of men in business attire, working out at the gym, working hard at an office job to make money to support his family. On the inside, that translates to insensitivity and indifference towards emotions, coldness with a tough exterior, and a lack of flamboyancy.

The Chinese government has placed most of the blame on Korean and Japanese pop stars, many of whom have a sleeker feminine look, for defying the core traditions of outward masculinity within Chinese culture and becoming popular throughout the nation as well.

Broadcasters are demanded to promote traditional, revolutionary, and advanced socialist culture as opposed to displaying celebrities who do not align with these values and who are able to influence Chinese citizens by evoking admiration towards their prestige and lifestyles. Actors who have violated the government’s latest terms are having their names wiped off media credits and streaming platforms in general.