Cindy: great update on the luscious lads. You might enjoy this background piece on China’s limp-wrist militant youth (https://chinaheritage.net/journal/homo-xinensis-militant/), with details of Republican-era hopes for China to be the “Sparta of the East”, and this excellent recent essay by Chu Yang:
The state’s inability to win this one despite years of trying says everything — you can ban effeminate men from TV but you can’t ban the preference that makes women watch them in the first place. The softer masculinity being less threatening in a patriarchal society is such a good read on why it persists, such a good point. I wrote about something adjacent to this with other points — the K-pop export of androgynous male aesthetics and how Japan built an entire pop culture around gender fluidity decades before anyone called it progressive — in a post called ‘The view has changed’ if that’s of any interest: https://yanyuletters.substack.com/p/the-view-has-changed
Great post. However, I am not sure that this phenomenon is limited to China or East Asia. Timothee Chalamet (from the Dune films), Robert Pattison (Batman) and Tom Holland (Spiderman) are also delicate, pale and handsome heroes.
There's an odd little phrase in the 'Book of Documents' in which the upright Yi Yin, advisor to the late King Tang of Shang, is admonishing the heir-son for his various debaucheries. He accuses the young man of being 'close to uncouth boys' 比頑童 bǐ wán tóng. I've always had the feeling that 'uncouth' (or Dr Legge's 'procacious') was something of euphemism.
China has always tried to ensure its media influence its society. From history of Chinese TV dramas, previously actors were always men, in Chinese opera even for women roles that went into first Chinese TV dramas. To avoid anger & jealousy from husbands that housewives watching these "male actors" in afternoons that had women to come in act these roles. And sometimes actresses even do heroic male roles.
And until now, China still bans spiritual, horror shows to try "suppress" superstition, which China had historically major human disasters with it. I think as the population gets more educated, the issue of superstition would not be problem.
So China as old civilization is like grandparents trying to ensure child grows up good, and to protect them where possible. But Chinese people are just too entrepreneur and creative... if not given guardrails, often goes overboard.... looking into Chinese social media videos.
Cindy: great update on the luscious lads. You might enjoy this background piece on China’s limp-wrist militant youth (https://chinaheritage.net/journal/homo-xinensis-militant/), with details of Republican-era hopes for China to be the “Sparta of the East”, and this excellent recent essay by Chu Yang:
https://northwardseaside.substack.com/p/sighing-at-the-spring-breeze-chinas?r=4gssn&utm_medium=ios
Like most in the West, they appear to have known rather little about Spartan social arrangements.
https://bigthink.com/the-past/pederasty-homosexuality-ancient-greece/#:~:text=Pederasty%20in%20Sparta
I may not understand Chinese politics. But I do appreciate twinks in hanfu.
The state’s inability to win this one despite years of trying says everything — you can ban effeminate men from TV but you can’t ban the preference that makes women watch them in the first place. The softer masculinity being less threatening in a patriarchal society is such a good read on why it persists, such a good point. I wrote about something adjacent to this with other points — the K-pop export of androgynous male aesthetics and how Japan built an entire pop culture around gender fluidity decades before anyone called it progressive — in a post called ‘The view has changed’ if that’s of any interest: https://yanyuletters.substack.com/p/the-view-has-changed
Great post. However, I am not sure that this phenomenon is limited to China or East Asia. Timothee Chalamet (from the Dune films), Robert Pattison (Batman) and Tom Holland (Spiderman) are also delicate, pale and handsome heroes.
There's an odd little phrase in the 'Book of Documents' in which the upright Yi Yin, advisor to the late King Tang of Shang, is admonishing the heir-son for his various debaucheries. He accuses the young man of being 'close to uncouth boys' 比頑童 bǐ wán tóng. I've always had the feeling that 'uncouth' (or Dr Legge's 'procacious') was something of euphemism.
https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=en&id=42968#sid10045401
China has always tried to ensure its media influence its society. From history of Chinese TV dramas, previously actors were always men, in Chinese opera even for women roles that went into first Chinese TV dramas. To avoid anger & jealousy from husbands that housewives watching these "male actors" in afternoons that had women to come in act these roles. And sometimes actresses even do heroic male roles.
And until now, China still bans spiritual, horror shows to try "suppress" superstition, which China had historically major human disasters with it. I think as the population gets more educated, the issue of superstition would not be problem.
So China as old civilization is like grandparents trying to ensure child grows up good, and to protect them where possible. But Chinese people are just too entrepreneur and creative... if not given guardrails, often goes overboard.... looking into Chinese social media videos.