China's crackdown on pretty boys and temple temptresses from buzai232's blog

China's crackdown on pretty boys and temple temptresses

Following a crackdown on the entertainment industry, China’s male celebrities are looking more masculine these days.To get more latest entertainment news, you can visit shine news official website.

Once known for his Korean pretty boy image, Chinese singer-songwriter Huang Zitao recently posted a photo of himself at the gym with his six packs in clear view. Chinese actor Wang Yibo, who shot to fame after starring in a period drama, has cut his hair short. Chinese singer Cai Xukun, a talent show alum, now has a beard and flexed his muscles for a magazine shoot. It seems that many erstwhile pretty boys are transforming into masculine men to dissociate themselves from the “effeminate” image that Chinese officials have recently banned.

Early this month, the Chinese National Radio and Television Administration unveiled a plan to promote “correct” beauty standards across all platforms to “resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal esthetics”. On 18 September, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Radio and Television released a statement saying that it has tightened the guidelines on drama production in terms of casting, performance style, costume and makeup so as to put an end to “effeminate” aesthetics. Participation in publicity events promoting this aesthetic style is also prohibited. 　
The derogatory term niangpao (娘炮, lit. girlie guns, meaning “effeminate, sissy”) is used to describe effeminate men. China Women’s News once banned the use of this term because of its sexist nature. Early in 2018, public opinion had also turned against the rising trend of effeminate celebrities in the entertainment industry.

Back then, a China Central Television programme “First Class of New Semester” targeted at primary and secondary school students had invited several young male pop idols to appear on the show as guests. Some parents complained that the idols did not look masculine enough, and became worried that this would affect their child’s perceptions of male/female attractiveness.

State media Xinhua News Agency then published a commentary under the name “Xin Shi Ping” (, a homophone and acronym for Xinhuashe Shishi Pinglun , Xinhua’s current affairs commentary section), criticising the trend of effeminacy in the entertainment industry as a perverse culture and cautioning that the negative impact of this culture on the younger generation cannot be underestimated.　
However, a WeChat article posted by the commentary section of the People’s Daily offered a different view. It said: “To equate manliness with appearance is a simplistic approach.” It also rejected the use of derogatory terms like niangpao and bu nan bu nü (, lit. not male not female; to look neither like a male nor a female). 　　

Compared with the situation three years ago when there were differing views, various state media are now on the same page as the ban on effeminate aesthetics has been made official. On 27 August, Guangming Daily attacked the film and television industry for casting pretty boys as the protagonist, making characters who should be manly and strong waifish and weak instead. The piece further suggested that pretty boys would stoop to hyping up scandals and instigating fan disputes to raise their popularity.

Clearly, officials have lumped the trend of effeminacy with the like economy and a disorderly fandom culture, asserting that the worship of pretty boys is the reason for the chaos and problems in the entertainment industry.