China’s Masculinity Mandate: The State That Builds Men

A Gendered Vision for the Future

At the heart of China’s vision lies a strict, State-approved masculinity. This isn’t just about physical strength but a cultural doctrine rooted in discipline, loyalty, and virility. Under President Xi Jinping, this new vision of masculinity has become a cornerstone of national identity. It appears in over 54% of any official discourses, and it always articulates the level of education of Chinese leaders as moral and political prowess in providing China and the Global South with economic and technological growth. The Chinese State is working to craft a model of manhood that aligns with its goals of global leadership—rigid, unyielding, and unapologetically powerful.

In 2021, the Ministry of Education allocated $180 million to reform physical education, explicitly targeting the development of a “masculine spirit” among boys. School curricula were modified to include military drills and intensive sports programmes. Meanwhile, State-run media launched campaigns encouraging male students to become “physically and mentally stronger,” ensuring that China’s next generation of men would embody the strength and resilience necessary for the great national rejuvenation.

Strength and Order: A New National Masculinity

What does the ideal Chinese man look like today? He is tough, resilient, disciplined, and has an unwavering commitment to the State. He is also physically healthy and applies Confucianist moral virtue, which in turn has been rebranded to fit the modern Chinese narrative.

In 2021, the National Radio and Television Administration issued a directive demanding that broadcasters avoid “abnormal aesthetics.” In practice, this meant removing male celebrities with effeminate appearances from the airwaves. The government’s crackdown on androgynous boy bands and actors reflects a broader cultural effort to reshape gender norms, ensuring that men in China are depicted as strong, stoic, and patriotic. The “sissy man” has become a symbol of everything China wishes to reject—weakness, disorder, moral decline.

The politics of masculinity has implications in all spheres of society as well as for individual choices. As a result, in the luxury industry, Breguet is underperforming in China ($304 million in sales) because its watches design are considered “effeminated”, Chinese men preferring more masculine designs, such as those of Rolex ($3 billion) and Omega ($1.5 billion). “If we are to become the world’s strongest nation, we must first produce men who are strong in both mind and body,” said one Chinese official. The CCP’s vision of masculinity is evident in its cultural investments, including $460 million in military-themed films that celebrate Chinese heroes, such as World Warrior 1 and 2.

“Masculinity is the bedrock of China’s strength,” said one senior Party official in 2023. “Without strong men, the nation cannot grow. A soft society cannot compete on the global stage.” And indeed, in the eyes of Beijing, masculinity is synonymous with power: masculine leaders are respected, while leaders appearing weak give the image of a weak country. This position is often publicised in CCP affiliated media. China Youth Daily, for instance, published a survey in 2022 according to which 58% of male respondents reported feeling encouraged to adhere to traditional masculine roles, while 65% agreed that a “tough” man is more likely to succeed in life.

The Masculinity of Power: A Global Counterpoint

But China’s embrace of masculinity is not merely about national identity; it is deeply tied to geopolitics. Its rebranding of masculinity is a weapon—a tool in the ideological battle against the West. If the West can’t even define what a man is, how can it claim leadership? “We have order and strength in our men. What do the Americans have?” said a prominent Chinese academic during a conference. “Their men are confused—weak, fragile, fragmented.”

In a world where Western liberal democracies are increasingly focused on gender fluidity and LGBTQ+ rights, China, just like Russia, presents a stark counterpoint that proved very effective in decreasing France’s influence and presence in Africa. The CCP argues that the West’s “obsession with gender” is a sign of moral decay. This rhetoric has made its way into China’s diplomacy as well. Whether it’s during high-level talks in Africa or its aggressive stance in the South China Sea, China’s gender politics are a signal to the world: “We are strong. We are stable. We are not like them.”

And yet, beneath this massive push lies a growing tension. Chinese men, especially in the urban centers, are beginning to ask questions. The rise of K-pop, effeminate fashion, and subcultures pushing back against the “tough guy” image suggest that there is a quiet but powerful resistance emerging. “We don’t want to be just soldiers and workers,” said one young professional in Shanghai. “We want to be free to choose who we are.”

Western influence, the internet, and global trends are not so easily swept aside, especially when more of 1 million Chinese study abroad every year. And therein lies the paradox: while the Party seeks to shape men as loyal, obedient patriots, it may also be creating the space for the very questioning of its authority that it fears most.

Statement

China wants to reinvent its men, to cast them as the ultimate symbols of order, power, and strength. The Chinese government is betting that tough men will build a strong China. But the risk is that in shaping men to conform, it might unintentionally create cracks in the very system it’s trying to fortify. One thing is certain: China’s vision of masculinity will be a defining issue in the geopolitical contest ahead, and if countries or firms want to be respected and perform in a world reshaped by China, they better adapt and understand the Chinese need to be virile.

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