February 5, 2021
Just when I thought I had masculinity all figured out, along comes the Chinese government to set me straight. Thank God for the Chinese Communist Party.
According to an article in today’s New York Times, “Government officials in China believe that boys are getting more effeminate and want to toughen them up. In the latest attempt to tackle what academics and news outlets call a ‘masculinity crisis,’ the Education Ministry has proposed emphasizing the ‘spirit of yang,’ or male attributes…to prevent the feminization of male youths.” A top official said that “the prevalence of female teachers and the popularity of ‘pretty boys’ in pop culture has made boys ‘weak, inferior, and timid.’ He also lamented the fact that boys no longer wanted to become war heroes.”
What a shame. Who’s going to invade India, Taiwan, or the South China Sea if Chinese boys don’t want to be war heroes?
At least good looking Chinese boys have an alternative to being soldiers: playing patriotic warriors onscreen. In another New York Times article dated August 8, 2017, the headline was “China’s Pretty Boys Find a New Gig: Propaganda Films.” The report describes such actors and other young male celebrities by saying, “Known in Chinese as xiao xian rao, ‘little fresh meat’ refers to Chinese teenage idols and boy band members, famous mostly for their manicured good looks and sculpted physiques.”
I’ve been thinking lately about masculine and feminine qualities because I’m currently half way through War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy’s epic historical novel about Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. In the book, the aristocratic young men are handsome and dashing, and the upper class young women are beautiful and “blooming.” I don’t mind the gender stereotypes; after all, the book was written over 150 years ago. And not all of the men want to be war heroes, though many of them do desire that glory, and not all the women are scheming to find a rich husband, though most of them are.
I’m perfectly willing to accept that there are male tendencies and female tendencies, though to avoid excessive sniping I’ll leave it to the reader to decide which are typical male and female behaviors and attitudes. I do believe that people should be free to dress and act in whatever ways feel right for them, rather than having to conform to preconceived notions of what is appropriate for their gender.
Although I don’t remember if I ever wanted to be a war hero (I probably did), I do know that starting at about age six I wanted to be a champion of some sort. I was first inspired by the TV cartoon character Mighty Mouse, who rescued fair maidens and defeated bad guys. Ever since then I’ve wanted to be confident, strong, courageous, and noble in spirit. Those are qualities that I’ve always associated with manhood, though now I would also add kindness, compassion, and wisdom to my idea of a paragon of positive masculinity.
Napoleon was a military genius and a social reformer, but he was also a tyrant and mass killer of men, so I would have to cite him as an example of toxic masculinity.
Is it possible to be both beautiful and masculine? I would say definitely yes. The other night I watched Risky Business again, and in it a young Tom Cruise does a very sexy dance alone wearing just an unbuttoned shirt, jockey shorts, and socks. His character is an uninhibited stud acting out his fantasy of being a rock star, and if his exuberant strutting isn’t masculine, I don’t know what is. He may be a pretty boy, but his swaggering cock-of-the-walk explosive dance is the antithesis of being “weak, inferior, and timid.”
Maybe the Communist Party should use Risky Business as a recruiting film for the Chinese army. It’s definitely got that yang thang.
David Wigginton 