The Chinese governmenthas recently taken actionagainst what it calls sissy men males, often celebrities, deemed too effeminate.
On Sept. 2,2021, governmentregulators banned their appearanceon both television and video streaming sites.
Technically this is a rule, not a law.
The international community may view the rule as yet another example of Chinese repressioncentered on LGBTQ communities.
And this could be true, to an extent.
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However, the restrictions seemed to only inspire more creative and subversive expressions of sexuality on video streaming sites.
For example, images of two men kissing and holding hands were banned.
So creators simply used dialogues and gestures, like intense eye contact, to convey homosexual intimacy.
Furthermore, these rules didnt regulate the physical appearance of characters.
In the past, female audiences would clamor for masculine looks or physiques in their male celebrities.
Todays young Chinese people, on the other hand, are more open tochallenging gender stereotypes.
Within online fan communities, femininity in male celebrities isnt stigmatized; instead, its celebrated.
Take the actorZhang Zhehan.
For years, he played masculine characters in several TV shows.
Typically, their shows can generatebillions of views and considerable ad revenue.
In China, the government has long exploited gender and sexuality in the service of political needs.
