China’s government banned effeminate men on TV and told broadcasters Thursday to promote "revolutionary culture," broadening a campaign to tighten control over business and society and enforce official morality, per the AP. President Xi Jinping has called for a "national rejuvenation," with tighter Communist Party control of business, education, culture, and religion. Companies and the public are under increasing pressure to align with the government's vision of a more powerful China. Now, broadcasters must "resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal aesthetics," the National Radio and TV Administration said, using an insulting slang term for effeminate men—"niang pao," or literally, "girlie guns."
That reflects official concern that Chinese pop stars, influenced by the sleek, fashionable look of some South Korean and Japanese singers and actors, are failing to encourage China's young men to be masculine enough. Broadcasters should avoid promoting "vulgar internet celebrities" and admiration of wealth and celebrity, the regulator said. Instead, programs should "vigorously promote excellent Chinese traditional culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture." Broadcasters also should avoid performers who "violate public order" or have "lost morality," the regulator said. Programs about the children of celebrities also are banned. (As part of this cultural push, China also declared that children can no longer play video games on school nights.)
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