https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgx3nn/china-masculinity-sissy-stars

EDIT: Wow, this blew up. Want to take this opportunity to plug my bandcamp

  • Awoo [she/her]
    ·
    3 years ago

    We had a chat about this in some of the UK socialist discords and came to the conclusion we could think of literally zero people that would fit this description in British media. The closest we could think of that might fit this kind of thing would be Jedward.

    It's not that unusual for this to be hiring policy. What I do find unusual is for it to ever leak that it is the hiring policy of anyone in entertainment/media.

    I personally think this is very uniquely targeted at idol culture which is something we don't really have in the west. We did have a lot more effeminate men in pop music back when early boy bands were a popular music trend but that seems to have dropped off too.

      • Awoo [she/her]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Yeah this is good thinking. Huge quantities of western people are consuming k-pop, anime and other japanese content because it defies common gender roles and behaviours. This content is finding a market that is not being served by western entertainment and media for a reason -- they've intentionally avoided serving it.

        It WAS being served, back when the pop industry had a huge boom of boybands. Then it dropped off a cliff. Why? Not because it wasn't making money, it definitely was.

        There are a few that pop up now and then (One Direction/Jedward) but none of them cross the line to step outside of societally defined roles, and if they do walk on that line like Jedward then they do so while simultaneously putting on a dramatic act that makes it clear there is an act going on.