Month: May 2023

I. What:

The topic of my research is aimed to address the current societal expectations of masculinity in China and promote dialogue to challenge traditional gender expectations, especially towards male stereotypes. Through extensive research, including interviews and analysis of data from Chinese social medias, it has become evident that stereotypes regarding male roles and masculinity persist in Chinese society. I plan to explore practical solutions to tackle these stereotypes and create a more inclusive and equitable environment for all genders in China.

II. Why:

By addressing stereotypes related to masculinity in China, I can foster a more inclusive and egalitarian society where individuals are free to express their authentic selves. This research is essential for combating gender inequality and promoting healthier relationships and communication between genders. It will contribute to the overall well-being and mental health of individuals affected by societal pressures and stereotypes.

III. How:

Methodology:

• Conduct qualitative interviews: In-depth interviews with diverse individuals to understand their perceptions of gender roles and stereotypes.
• Analyze social media data: Utilize Chinese social media data to explore the prevalence and impact of stereotypes regarding male roles.
• Literature review: Review academic literature on gender studies, masculinity, and interventions challenging gender stereotypes.

Potential Interventions:

• Podcast series: Develop a series of podcasts that focus on gender roles and masculinity stereotypes in China. Invite experts, activists, and individuals with diverse perspectives to discuss these topics, providing valuable insights and promoting critical thinking among listeners. 
• Bilibili channel: Create a dedicated channel on Bilibili, the largest video streaming platform in China, to produce informative and engaging content related to gender equality and challenging stereotypes. Utilize creative formats such as animated videos, vlogs, and interviews to reach a wide audience, particularly younger audiences. 
• Social media campaigns: Establish social media account on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, dedicated to promoting gender equality education. Regularly share informative video content, personal stories, and interactive posts to engage followers in meaningful conversations and challenge prevailing stereotypes.

Management Strategy:

• Collaborate with experts: Engage experts in the field of gender studies and masculinity to provide guidance and insights throughout the research process. Their expertise can contribute to my intervention strategies such as podcasts and social media campaigns.

• Ethical considerations: Ensure the protection of participants’ confidentiality and obtain informed consent for interviews and data analysis. Adhere to ethical guidelines in all research activities.

IV. What If:

If successful, this research and the subsequent interventions can have several positive implications and potential outcomes:

• Podcast series: The podcast series will raise awareness and provide education on traditional gender roles and gender stereotypes in China, fostering critical thinking and dialogue, inviting experts and activists could also help to build a deeper understanding of stereotypes to a wider public.
• Bilibili channel: The contents on the Bilibili channel will reach a wider audience, particularly youth, which will help to increased awareness and education on current gender inequality issues in China.
• Social Media campaigns: The Douyin account will be dedicated to promoting gender equality education in a more interactive and intelligible encourage followers to participate in conversations and challenging gender stereotypes.
• Policy recommendations: Utilize research findings to advocate for policy changes at various levels, including educational institutions, media organizations, and government bodies, addressing male and female stereotypes, promoting gender equality, and eventually changing Chinese society’s and unjust and obsolete definitions of masculinity.

In the past two weeks, I have thought carefully about my research question and what I need to discuss more in my research paper. I focused on possible causes of stereotypes of male roles and masculinity in China, so I have streamlined my research question to:

How can societal expectations of masculinity in China be addressed to promote dialog and challenge gender-role/male stereotypes? 

I also created two different sets of interview questions, each set has 10 questions, I translated them into Chinese and invited people from China (aged 16-45) to answer them through Chinese social medias (Mainly WeChat Mini-Program). Both sets of questions ask the interviewees about their perceptions of gender roles, but one is more focused on male gender roles in China, the other is about female gender roles.

Each interviewee were asked to take both sets of questions and choose from 1-5 (strongly disagree to strongly agree) under each question. By May 14th, there were over 50 responses in total, which I then analyzed and visualized into bar graphs to give a in-depth understanding of male and female’s perspectives in China

Here are the two sets of interview questions :

I then created 4 visualizations based on the data I received from the interview forms, they are: Male answering set A question, Male answering set B, Female answering set A, Female answering set B. Here are the graphs generated using the medium of the answers.

The graphs above showed a very interesting comparison between males and females perspectives of gender roles in China. The results were different than I expected, both male and female participants showed a certain level of understanding of the opposite gender’s societal expectations in the responses, and some of the more ‘traditional’ responses are mostly from interviewees that are over 40 years old (on average).

However, on some questions, most participants seems to still stick to the common gender role stereotypes, such as some of the male participants agrees more towards the females, should not remain single or childless; and most of the female participants agreed that male should probably prioritize their families over careers, which might be why there are always conflicts or argues between the two genders on Chinese social medias.

With that in mind, I initiated quantitative research by analyzing data from Chinese social medias including RED (similar to Instagram, mostly female users) Baidu Tieba (Baidu’s internet forum, mostly male users), Weibo (similar to (similar to Twitter, slightly more female than male users) etc. Searching for hashtags like #普信男, or #Feminism in these social medias to provide additional perspectives and dimensions for my research.

During my research, I found that there are many discussion posts across all 3 platforms about male and female relationships, which created a number of demeaning terms for both men and women, such as

‘下头男'(A male who ruins one’s mood)，

‘普信男’(Average but overly confident male)，

‘河童’ (a Japanese mystic monster called Kappa. usually used to describe a male who’s unattractive)，

‘虾系’ (A person who’s in good physical shape or have good taste, but doe not have an attractive face),

‘蛆’ (maggots)，

‘蝈蝻’ (Literally means ‘caddisfly’, but the word is also homophonic with ‘国男’, which means Chinese man. Both characters contain the radical ‘虫’ which means insect or worm.)，

‘恶臭’ (generally used to describe offensive and hateful speech (usually directed at women))，

‘女拳’，(straight translation would be ‘women’ fists’, but the word is homophonic as ‘女权‘, which translates to women’s rights or femnisim )

‘坦克’ (Means Tank, usually used to describe ‘overweighted’ females) etc.

Most of these terms are extremely offensive and disrespectful. And these terms are usually seen under gender and relationship related posts or under the posts’ comments.

Among them, Baidu Tieba, one of the biggest online forums in China, has a large number of insulting posts against women in Sun Xiaochuan Ba and these posts has sparked serious concerns about males in China.

Sun Xiaochuan was originally a gaming streamer, but he has been banned from most of China’s live game platforms due to his inconsiderate and inappropriate comments. But the forum, which bears his name, appears to have become a gathering place for wantonly commenting on, insulting or attacking women, which can be one of the contributing factors to the continued spread of negative male impressions.

Of course, what happened on Sun Ba Forum is not an isolated case. Many women have experienced verbal attacks or harassment in other social media in China as well as in real life. Coupled with the fact that some female users have learned about some men’s hate speech and behavior as a result of social media and big data pushing, it is natural to have a negative stereotype of the male population.

With the above quantitative and quantitative research results, we are back at my research question: How can societal expectations of masculinity in China be addressed to promote dialog and challenge gender-role/male stereotypes? 

My initial ideas of intervention towards my topic is to increase children and youths awareness and knowledge about genders, improve sex education and invited experts on gender roles to create a series of podcasts or a documentary. Also to seriously enforced online platform language guidelines etc. All of which serves educational purposes.

Research Background:

In August 2020, a stand-up comedian Yang Li sparked a buzz on Chinese social media after her statements during the performance, which she said: “How does a guy look so ordinary, but he can be so confident? ” While Yang Li received a lot of support from audiences, some felt that Yang Li was intentionally demeaning to men rather than supposedly speaking out for women.

Today the term derived from this performance by Yang Li, The term ‘puxin nan’（普信男）, has become a frequently used term on Chinese social media, translating directly as’ an ordinary but overconfident male.’

Yang Li’s performance also got me thinking, as a western form of entertainment, stand-up comedy is by its very nature ‘the art of offending’ to most people, so it seems justifiable that some people got offended by the jokes in the context of traditional Chinese culture. But those who are offended by the term ‘Puxin man’ seem to have a deeper reason.

In the environment of China’s patriarchal society, men are generally expected to show positive masculinity, which means taking on more work and effort and restraining their feelings. And the proliferation and stereotyping of the term ‘puxin male’ on the internet has certainly hit a sore spot for most Chinese men.

I believe that traditional gender norms continue to be deeply ingrained in China, both men and women have social expectations and many suffer under these gender stereotypes. In China, owning a decent property and a car is often deemed necessary for men to be considered suitable partners for marriage, while they are expected to be the primary breadwinners for their families. The resulting burden of these expectations, which can lead to feelings of depression and resentment.

These thoughts lead me to finding the definition of masculinity in China. What does it mean to be a man in China, What are expected? Where do all the negative stereotypes come from? Why are the key factors for men and women to work together to make fundamental changes to the societal expectations placed on gender roles.

The following are some of the initial steps and possible sources I found during my research.

WHAT: The subject I intend to research is the concept of masculinity in China, and the societal expectations placed on men.

Precise Question: What does it mean to be a man in China, what are the expected gender roles and stereotypes, and how do these impact the mental health and well-being of men in Chinese society?

WHY: This research will be valuable because it will shed light on the cultural and societal pressures that Chinese men face, and how these expectations impact their mental health and well-being. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of gender roles and stereotypes in China, and inform efforts to promote gender equality and positive masculinity.

Moreover, this research can provide insights into how gender roles and stereotypes are constructed and perpetuated in other societies and inform efforts to promote gender equality and positive masculinity in China.

HOW: The project will be conducted using a mixed-methods approach, including literature review, interviews with Chinese men and women, and analysis of social media discourse related to masculinity and gender roles in China.

By identifying key stakeholders, such as Chinese men’s rights groups and Chinese feminist organizations, and finding opportunities to work/interview with them to ensure that their perspectives are included in the research.

WHAT IF: Positive implications of this research could include increased awareness and understanding of the challenges that Chinese gender roles face, and inform efforts to promote gender equality and positive masculinity in China and other societies.

Sources:

1. “Toxic Masculinity in Chinese Culture” by Xuefei Wang (2019)
2. “Young Men and Masculinities in Chinese Cinema” edited by Kam Louie and Ban Wang (2019)
3. “Masculinities in Chinese History” edited by Bret Hinsch (2018)
4. “Toxic Masculinity and Its Discontents: The Chinese Film Industry” by Yiman Wang (2017)
5. “Masculinity Besieged? Issues of Modernity and Male Subjectivity in Chinese Literature of the Late Twentieth Century” by Carlos Rojas (2016)
6. “Masculinity and Sexuality in Cold War Chinese Literature” by Ban Wang (2013)
7. “Gender and Sexuality in Modern Chinese History” edited by Susan Mann and Yu Xie (2012)
8. “The Power of Patriarchy: How It Shapes the Chinese Family Today” by Susan Greenhalgh (2011)