Society
China Targets ‘Effeminate’ Men in Xi’s Mounting Push for Conformity
- Crackdown on gender expression also hits media, tech companies
- Government uses offensive slur in official guidance to media
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In a low-cut midriff top, butt-hugging pants and a bold red lip, Beijing photographer Alain would be hard to miss even in the most crowded party. People stare, he said, and he loves it: “It’s totally a rebellion against conservative culture.”
That, for President Xi Jinping’s Communist Party, is the problem. Earlier this month, regulators explicitly targeted androgynous pop idols and anyone who, like Alain, doesn’t conform to Chinese gender norms, using a derogatory slur to warn media companies off men who express a more feminine style.