China’s Ministry of Education has responded to calls to tackle the “feminisation” of young men. The statement laid out its plans to develop masculinity in young men through a combination of physical exercise and mental health:
- Increase the provision of PE teachers and improve training for them, including introducing free teacher training
- Strengthen schools’ physical education systems
- Improve health education
- Conduct further research
The topic sparked a heated discussion about gender norms and attitudes towards masculinity which has received over 560 million views and 139,000 comments on Weibo. A popular comment from a netizen criticised the huge societal pressures on men to look and behave in a certain way.
A more “feminine” appearance, known as “little fresh meat”, is popular among many younger men, influenced by Chinese and Korean celebrity culture.
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