The singer Cai Xukun performing in Beijing. Credit VCG/Getty Images.
It’s diverting to see how evolving styles of masculinity in China can flummox the patriarchy. Redolent translations bubble up from the fascinating goo of rhetoric around the matter.
… “little fresh meat,” a nickname, coined by fans, for young, delicate-featured, makeup-clad male entertainers.
…
The state news agency Xinhua denounces what it calls… “sissy pants” culture as “pathological….”
…
“The ridiculous condemnation of ‘sissy pants’ men shows the gender ideology of a patriarchal society that equates toughness with men and fragility with women,” a journalist… wrote….(Helen Gao, “‘Little Fresh Meat’ and the Changing Face of Masculinity in China,” NYTimes, 6-12-19)
A major Communist Party organ wrote that at a time when China confronts multiple threats the country doesn’t want to see its men “shrieking while refreshing their makeup.”
I dunno. A world led by men shrieking while refreshing their makeup seems like a better place.
(c) 2019 JMN
EthicalDative 
Would a shrieking made up man be less likely to press a red button? I wonder but perhaps a little less patriarchy all round might make a better world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You make good points. The “shrieking” is an unkind cut and masterful slur. It associates effeminacy with instability, and reminds me of dire warnings not long ago that menstrual cycles would make it dangerous for a female president to have access to the button. I wondered if this amusing rhetoric was a sly dig by the Chinese at our own heavily made-up, shrieking specimen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed
I was quoting “shrieking” not stating this as my opinion. If anything associates with instability, it’s overt masculinity.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, understood. I give our Chinese friends all the credit for their gambit, and no intention on your part. It seems pertinent to say here that your recently posted drawings are eloquent and magnificent. They do our gender (if you will) great credit.
LikeLiked by 1 person