Boys in China traditionally are expected to be strong leaders, get good grades and excel at sports. But the gender balance in China is changing.

The rising economic status of women has upended traditional ideas of masculinity in China.

HONG KONG — No one invited Bu Yunhao to be in their group for the annual class trip. The other fifth graders at Shanghai Shangde Experimental School made fun of the 11-year-old, calling him "too girly."

"I wanted to run away, right out of the classroom," said Yunhao, now 13 and a first-year middle schooler in Shanghai, China's largest city.

Some of Yunhao's classmates made fun of his high-pitched voice and the way he "screamed" when he tried to maintain discipline among his fellow students as a class monitor. Others teased him for spending so much time with girls and said he acted like he was "trying to date" the other boys in the class.

The bullying eventually stopped, but a recent announcement by the government that singles out boys who don't fit traditional Chinese ideas of masculinity has revived the painful memories. The plan to "encourage masculinity" in male students has inflamed a debate over modern gender roles as China's government increasingly emphasizes what many consider to be outdated and damaging stereotypes for men and boys.

"Boys don't need masculinity education," said Lü Pin, the founder of China's largest feminist advocacy media channel, Feminist Voices, which was banned by Chinese censors in 2018.

"The concept of masculinity forces every man to be tough, which excludes and harms men with other types of characteristics," she said. "It also reinforces men's hegemony, control and position over women, which goes against gender equality."

In January, China's Education Ministry published plans to "cultivate masculinity" in boys from kindergarten through high school. The initiative involves hiring and training more gym teachers, testing students more comprehensively in physical education, making health education compulsory and supporting research into issues like the "influence of the phenomenon of internet celebrities on adolescents' values."

The plan follows a warning from one of China's top political advisers that the nation is experiencing a national "masculinity crisis."

"Chinese boys have been spoiled by housewives and female teachers," the adviser, Si Zefu, said in a policy proposal in May. Boys would soon become "delicate, timid and effeminate" unless action was taken, he said.

Addressing the issue is a matter of national security, he wrote, warning that the "feminization" of Chinese boys "threatens China's survival and development."

Boys in China traditionally are expected to show strong leadership skills, get good grades in math and science and excel in school sports, Fang Gang, a sociology professor at Beijing Forestry University, wrote in a blog post about the proposed changes on Jan. 30.

Girls, meanwhile, traditionally are viewed as less intellectual, and they are expected to be less competitive. The gender norms are rooted in traditional philosophy, in which two elements govern the world: Women are associated with the softer, more passive element of "yin"; men are represented by the tougher, more active element of "yang."

The ideas about gender roles have begun to change in recent years, however. Since 2010, more girls than boys have entered universities, and girls regularly outperform boys in standardized testing, calling into question the traditional view that boys are naturally more academic.

The change has led to a common saying: "Yin in prosperity and yang in decline."

Source:https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-proposes-teaching-masculinity-boys-state-alarmed-changing-gender-roles-n1258939?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR0cXe88yO9wFPIXv22sr_VE40L1LQh3E5cEzAD7ME9ewel9Jmt7wWmlBcw

This is brilliant!

This is amusing. We hear America has simp issues, but it seems like China has it worse, lol.

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Good. We need to raise more masculine boys