While China Bans ‘Sissy’ Men, American Men Are Criticized for Toxic Masculinity: Analyst

Chinese women walk past an advertisement featuring teen idol Lu Han, also known as China's Justin Bieber in Beijing on Oct. 21, 2017. Ng Han Guan/AP Photo

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is trying to clamp down on men that it considers not masculine enough, said John Mac Ghlionn, a psychosocial specialist and Epoch Times contributor.

However, masculine qualities are being criticized as toxic in the United States and this causes many problems, Mac Ghlionn said on EpochTV’s “Crossroads” program.

The recent clampdown on “sissy men” in China is driven in part by the CCP’s concern that more and more men are in poor physical shape, said Mac Ghlionn, who used to live in China for a period of time.

“Obesity is a massive issue. Now, this has nothing to do with feminine or masculine qualities, but there is understandable concern from Beijing: more and more men are ... struggling with basic fitness requirements. And of course, that should be a concern to any country.”

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The Chinese communist regime banned effeminate men from appearing on TV in September 2021.

The clampdown aims at the elimination of “feminine portrayals of men” such as men with makeup or earrings, or men wearing female attire, Mac Ghlionn said.

Taking into consideration the demographic crisis that has affected the country, the CCP tries “to preserve what it means to be a man; masculine traits,” he said.

Mac Ghlionn described a “sissy man” as one who shies away from “everyday bravery,” which is having a commitment to something greater than himself. It may mean having a job, having a relationship such as being a father or a husband, or both, he explained.

More and more men shy away from these responsibilities, possibly isolating themselves or turning to recreational activities that have become a sort of a staple of their lives, he pointed out. “This is what I meant by sissy men.”

Mac Ghlionn clarified that his description of sissy men is not related to homosexuality.

Toxic Masculinity

Meanwhile, in America the term “toxic masculinity” has been used in recent years to characterize “manly” traits as harmful.

“Traditional masculinity” was deemed “harmful” by the American Psychological Association in its 2019 report. Among the traits it directly condemned were “emotional stoicism” and “self-reliance.”

Mac Ghlionn believes that although there are some very harmful characteristics possessed by men, the term itself has been used to troll. The term deems all male qualities as toxic and he thinks that “a lot of the problems stemmed from the use of that term.”

“Social stability starts in the home,” Mac Ghlionn said.

When looking at the association between broken homes on one side and violence, aggression, and criminal activity on the other side, “there’s a really strong association there between people who come from broken homes, who didn’t have a strong father figure in their life, and future rates of crime in their teenage years and their 20s,” Mac Ghlionn said.

“Ninety-three percent of our prisoners are male, but of those 93 percent males, more than 90 percent of them are dad-deprived males,” Warren Farrell, an American educator and author of the book “The Boy Crisis,” told The Epoch Times in a 2019 interview.

“Since Columbine, about 90 percent of the mass shooters are not just boys, but they’re dad-deprived boys,” Farrell said.

In a fatherless home, although a child might grow up with a nurturing, sensitive, and caring mother, he doesn’t have an authoritative male role model to look up to, Farrell explained.

Mac Ghlionn considers family an important pillar of society and stability. “It helps to be surrounded by good people in hard times. ... It helps to have a loving mother and father, [and siblings],” he said.

Jan Jekielek contributed to this report.