Many Chinese girls love “small, fresh meat”, which refers to young, effeminate male stars. However, it turns out that not everyone is a fan of them.

不少中国女孩都喜欢“小鲜肉”—— 年轻柔弱的男星。然而，并不是所有人都喜欢这样的人。

On Sept 6, an article published by Xinhua News Agency described some male stars as too effeminate.

9月6日，新华社发文称一些男星太“娘”了。

This came after CCTV was criticized for inviting several young male stars to perform on First Class for the New Semester, an educational TV show for primary and secondary school students, which aired on Sept 1.

此前，央视因邀请几位“小鲜肉”男星上中小学教育节目《开学第一课》而备受争议。该节目已于9月1日播出。

Afterwards, many parents left comments online, saying the stars in the show had a bad influence on their children.

节目播出后，不少家长在网上留言，称节目里的明星会对孩子产生不良影响。

The popularity of effeminate male stars is partly down to the influence of Japanese and South Korean pop culture, Fan Xiaoqing, an expert on South Korean movies at the Communication University of China, told China Daily.

中国传媒大学韩国电影专家范小青在接受《中国日报》采访时表示，“娘炮”男星的流行一部分是受日韩流行文化的影响。

However, the “femininity” of males isn’t a recent social phenomenon. In fact, being effeminate was popular among Chinese men during the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern dynasties, especially among aristocrats and scholars, according to China Daily.

然而，男性的“女性化”并非是个近期的社会现象。据《中国日报》报道，事实上，男子的阴柔之风曾在魏晋南北朝的贵族士大夫中盛行。

Indeed, the debate about effeminate male stars has been going on for a while.

而关于“娘炮”男星的争议的确已经持续了一段时间。

In July, Hong Kong singer-actor Nicholas Tse said during the singing reality show Sing! China that he feels tired of seeing effeminate male stars.

今年7月，香港歌手、演员谢霆锋在歌唱真人秀《中国新歌声》中表示，已经有点厌倦现在的“娘炮”男星。

“It isn’t that they’re not good, but we should discover ourselves, rather than imitate. Men should get their hormones back,” he said during the show.

“不是说人家不好，而是说我们应该找回自己，不能一直追着别人的尾巴。男生也该找回男生该有的荷尔蒙，”他在节目中表示。

His opinion was shared by Chinese director Feng Xiaogang. “Some young actors are feminine and they should be more manly,” he said during the Shanghai International Film Festival in June 2017.

中国导演冯小刚也有同感。“一些年轻演员，身上没有一点男人气概，娘们气严重，”2017年6月，他在上海国际电影节上如此说道。

However, others have a more open mind toward this phenomenon. “It’s stereotypical to think all male stars should be masculine, like Jackie Chan. As society diversifies, there are more options for fans to choose from,” Liang Yurou, 19, a college student from Fujian province, told China Daily.

然而，也有人对这一现象持更为开放的观点。“认为所有男星都应该像成龙那样血气方刚是种刻板印象。随着社会不断多元化，粉丝们也有了越来越多的选择，”来自福建的19岁大学生梁雨柔（音译）在接受《中国日报》采访时表示。

Deng Xiquan, head of the Youth Research Institute at the China Youth and Children Research Center, believes such a phenomenon is completely natural.

中国青少年研究中心青年研究所所长邓希泉认为，这样的现象十分正常。

“It’s only a central issue temporarily and will be replaced by a new youth culture at some stage. If a man has feminine beauty, this doesn’t mean that he lacks responsibility,” Deng told China Daily.

“这只是个暂时的焦点，某些时候会被新的青年文化所取代。就算男性有阴柔的一面，也不意味着他缺乏责任感，”邓希泉在接受《中国日报》采访时表示。

Deng’s opinion was echoed by the People’s Daily. “A man’s strength should be judged on the basis of their inner qualities – not their physical appearance,” it wrote.

邓希泉的观点与《人民日报》的观点相呼应。“从对于热血男儿的推崇，也可以看出，外形不是问题的关键，内涵才更深刻地决定着人们对一个人的评价，”《人民日报》写道。

文章来源：可可英语