Miscellaneous
"China Promotes Education Drive To Make Boys More “Manly”" A notice from China’s education ministry has caused quite a stir after it suggested young Chinese men had become too “feminine” and some say China’s male celebrities are partly to blame. For a while China’s government has signalled concern that the country’s most popular male role models are no longer strong, athletic figures like “army heroes”. Even President Xi Jinping, a well-known soccer enthusiast, has long been seeking to cultivate better sports stars. A recent proposal by the education ministry, titled “To Prevent The Feminization Of Male Adolescents”, called on schools to fully reform their physical education programs and strengthen their recruitment of those teachers. The text specifically advised recruiting retired athletes and people from sporting backgrounds - and “vigorously developing” particular sports like soccer. Si Zefu, a delegate of China’s top advisory body, said earlier in the year that many of China’s young males had become “weak, timid and self-abasing’. He made the claim that the home environment was partly to blame, with most Chinese boys being raised by their mothers or grandmothers. He also noted that the growing appeal of certain celebrities, mainly boy bands throughout Asia, meant that many children “did not want to be army heroes” anymore. The overwhelming majority of reactions to the proposal have been negative. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese individuals have taken to social media to voice their anger and concern. “Is feminization now a derogatory term?” one social media user asked. Another said “Boys are also humans...being emotional, timid or gentle, these are human characteristics.” On China’s social media platform Weibo, supportive comments pointed towards China’s male celebrities being to blame; largely those who are know as “little fresh meats” which is a common buzzword that refers to young, Chinese males who are seen as squeaky-clean, well-groomed and with delicate features. Boyband TF Boys and Chinese singer Lu Han fall into this category. The “little fresh meats” phenomenon continues to be a proven success for expanding Chinese culture outside of mainland China, but young Chinese male celebrities come under increased scrutiny and find it difficult to be anything that departs from their squeaky-clean mold. In recent years, the media has struggled to allow young male stars to appear on Chinese screens with tattoos or piercings. And in 2019, one of China’s top pop stars from the boyband TF Boys, came under fierce criticism when he was pictured illegally smoking in a Beijing restaurant. As President Xi hopes to turn China into a “world soccer superpower” by 2050, some wonder if HE is even man enough to turn around the impossible task of China’s national soccer team. "Different Strokes w/ Jeff Abraham" Full Episode Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3taaDn5 Apple: https://apple.co/38u7gxQ PodBean: https://bit.ly/3Bv5Yza