"The biggest target of this campaign is 'little fresh meat,' a term of endearment for massively popular makeup-wearing male entertainers."

"In a society where discussing politics is largely off limits and traditional media is tightly controlled, popular culture is the rare realm where individualism can thrive. And so the 'little fresh meat' phenomenon is about more than fashion and aesthetics; it offers an outlet for Chinese men and women at a time of economic uncertainty and a shifting power dynamic between sexes.... What the party appears to ignore, though, in blaming them for allegedly corrupting young men is that their fan base is predominantly female and in wealthy metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai. These women’s embrace of a more fluid form of masculinity is not a phenomenon the party should dismiss. Well-educated and financially independent, these women are bucking gender norms themselves by turning away from matrimony and motherhood and are proving to be resistant to the party’s push to boost marriages and births to offset the effects of an aging population. To this end, the party would do well to heed these women’s preferences. As some fans put it, the seemingly gentle manner and mild temper of 'little fresh meat' offer a welcome contrast to the chauvinistic attitude they can encounter in Chinese men. 'Having men be tender and thoughtful like women improves them,' one woman going by the name Jiangzi wrote in an online essay explaining her fondness for 'little fresh meat.' 'In dating and marriage,' she asked, 'who likes to be scolded?'"

Writes Helen Gao in "China’s Ban on ‘Sissy Men’ Is Bound to Backfire" (NYT).