The Chinese government has recently taken action against what it calls “sissy men” – males, often celebrities, deemed too effeminate. On ...
The Chinese government has recently taken action against what it calls “sissy men” – males, often celebrities, deemed too effeminate.
On September 2, government regulators banned their appearance on both television and video streaming sites. Using the Chinese derogatory slur “niang pao” – literally, “girlie guns” – Chinese cultural authorities explained that they were rolling out a rule to purge “morally flawed celebrities” in order to “correct aesthetics” in “performing styles” and “wardrobes and makeups”.
Technically this is a rule, not a law. But thanks to the strong control the Chinese government exerts over the industry, the tech companies that give these celebrities a platform have quickly fallen in line.
The international community may view the rule as yet another example of Chinese repression centred on LBGTQ communities.
And this could be true, to an extent.
However, as someone who studies China’s queer cultures, I am also attuned to the way pronouncements made by the Chinese government often cloak a hidden agenda.
To me, it is no coincidence that the ban has come during the intense national campaign against China’s domestic big tech giants, which the government increasingly sees as a threat to its ability to keep tabs on its citizens.
‘Traffic stars’
In the mid-2010s the Chinese government’s grip on the country’s entertainment sector began to weaken after decades of control over who could star on TV and what...
