Soft Masculinity and Its Discontents in Contemporary China

The popularity of soft or effeminate idol men on screens, billboards and social media platforms in today’s China has attracted scholarly attention. Researchers repeatedly mention keywords such as cultural globalisation, modernisation, consumerism and increasing gender equality as if this is an emerging trend in (mainland) China. The waxing and waning of the tough man craze (yinghan re) in the 1980s, the rise of flower-like boys/men (huameinan) after the turn of the new century and the popularity of “young/little fresh meat” (xiaoxianrou) in the 2010s indicate that the dispute between the masculine and the soft deserves more scholarly attention. How historical institutional forces shaped gender concepts should not be neglected. If we trace back to Confucian gender norms in ancient China, the popularity of softer masculinities is striking. Proper ways to exhibit an ideal masculinity have always been a central topic of discussion and debate in China since ancient times. Therefore, instead of using several keywords such as modernisation, consumerism and globalisation to oversimplify the trend or simply applying Western masculinity studies theories such as the social construction of gender, the emergence and popularity of soft masculinity should be examined within a larger historical, social and cultural structure. Changing masculine ideals among the Chinese from the 1980s to the 2010s have reflected different configurations of gender as well as the construction of masculinities in post-Mao China. This thesis delves into the characteristics and acceptance of Chinese soft masculinity through extensive content analysis, including male images in Chinese literature, films, magazines, television series, the Internet and so on. It aims to shed light on the origins of soft masculinity and how discontent with this expressed by Chinese intellectuals implies the changing status of Chinese intellectuals, especially males. This study partly draws on well established masculinity studies theories by Western scholars and some frameworks envisioned by Chinese scholars which draw inspiration from traditional Confucian gender concepts. This work offers insights into drastic socio-economic and cultural changes in China over the past four decades, particularly in a local and regional context, through the study of aspects of Chinese masculinities.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Asian Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

ResearchSpace@Auckland

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Dinghao

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Clark, Paul
• Zhou, Xuelin

• Chinese films and TV dramas
• Chinese masculinity
• soft masculinity
• contemporary Chinese popular culture

Statement dc:rights

• Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2292/72874

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/72874