Extra PE classes will help turn boys into men, says China

Boys stretch during a school gymnastics training session in Beijing 

Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN /AFP

Chinese education officials are requiring more gym classes in an effort to turn schoolboys into more manly men, a plan that’s being met with criticism online and debate over traditional gender norms. 

Better gym instructors – and more male teachers – should be recruited to “cultivate masculinity,” the education ministry has told schools and local governments. 

The change came in response to a senior political adviser’s suggestion last year that Chinese boys were becoming too effeminate, describing them as “weak, self-effacing and timid,” traits that would constitute “a threat to the development and survival of our nation.” 

China’s so-called “masculinity crisis” has long been a priority for authorities, with such sentiments fuelled in part by fears that China’s one-child policy, which lasted over three decades, has produced a generation of men that cannot fulfill social responsibilities such as serving in the army.

But the idea that more football classes will shape them into “tough” men has been ridiculed by the public for being out of touch and discriminating against women.

“The word choice is very improper,” wrote one person online. “By using this term, ‘increasing masculinity,’ means that physical weakness equals lack of masculinity. That’s just wrong, and no wonder people are critical.” 

“This country has millions more men than women, and no other country in the world has such a twisted sex ratio. They still think it’s not masculine enough?” complained one person online, referring to the gender imbalance caused by decades under China’s one-child policy, and a cultural preference for sons. 

“What does it mean to prevent them from becoming feminine, as if feminine is a derogatory term?” posted another online.

Others, however, supported the idea: “If men lose their masculinity, who can protect China’s sovereignty along the border?”

Chinese authorities have in recent years grown alarmed over a perceived “masculinity crisis,” influenced by South Korean pop culture, where male celebrities and boy bands have popularised a softer, more effeminate look, dubbed “tender fresh meat.”   

Chinese video-streaming site, iQiyi, provoked uproar in 2019 by blurring out the ears of male actors wearing jewelry. The altered images of actors from a few shows were ridiculed after attracting hundreds of millions of views online. 

Schools have also tried a range of experiments, introducing boys-only classes with subjects considered more suitable for males, including martial arts, computer repair, and rock music.