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├ Xin Xin / Nanjing University School of Sociology
✪ Shi Yufeng / Beihang Hangzhou Innovation Research Institute
"Culture Vertical" WeChat: whzh_21bcr
【Introduction】
In recent years, the dispute over "mothers and cannons" has aroused widespread concern in Chinese society. In the almost one-sided criticism of "Niang Cannon", the author of this article took a different approach, asking and reflecting: Is "Niang Cannon Er" really "Niang"? Why are they being labeled like this? And how was it posted? How should we rationally view this network phenomenon? The author points out that the feminine male youth who are labeled as "female cannons" is an unrealistic label, which is the punishment and removal of dissident temperament by traditional hegemonic masculinity. For such "women" constructed under the influence of visual consumption, mass interest and technological consumption, we should adhere to the principles of pluralism, rational treatment and integrity. This article was originally published in China Youth Studies, No. 2, 2019, and only represents the author's views, and is hereby compiled and distributed for your consideration.
With the continuous fermentation of the "mother-in-law" controversy in the field of online public opinion, the discussion about the current young masculinity should be and the truth has been pushed to the cusp of the storm. "Niang Cannon" first appeared in the Taiwanese TV series "Don't Call Me Soft Persimmon" in the heroine's line to the male protagonist, which was used to refer to the male protagonist's weakness. Recently, because a certain media education program "The First Lesson of School" invited male guests with feminine temperament to help, the word "mother cannon" stirred up thousands of waves, and the words "painful criticism of the wind" and "supporting the wind" were filled with online discourse space.
Etymologically, the word "niang" originally means maiden, which was first interpreted as "maiden's number" in the "Jade Chapters and Female Parts", and was later extended to be a mother or a woman. "Cannons" are people with rich experience, such as old cannons, workplace guns, etc. According to the literal meaning, "Niang Cannon Er" is a person who is more experienced in female behavior and demeanor, and "Niang Gun Er" on the Internet is mostly used to describe young men who show femininity in appearance, personality, behavior, language, etc., with obvious derogatory semantic colors.
In fact, social concerns about male gender and role tension have a long history, from the appeal of "saving boys" to the condemnation of "young women, then national brides", behind the jokes on the Internet, it is the anxiety and reflection on the current masculinity. Some scholars believe that the current masculinity presents three ideal types from yin to yang: the feminine "pseudo-feminine" temperament, the neutral ordinary masculinity and the masculine "tough guy" temperament. Shosso doesn't think men are building and experiencing a masculinity known as "cool." Fang Gang pointed out that masculinity is changing and diverse, and the "dominant masculinity" that has been encouraged by mainstream culture is one of the root causes of gender inequality.
The discussion about the "mother cannon" is in full swing, not so much as an argument, but rather an internet carnival that has won attention. As a stigmatized symbol label, some netizens and the media have criticized the "niang gun", some have vowed to defend the "gentleness" of men, and some have even led the anger of "feminization" to Japan and South Korea. It is true that there is a presupposition in the increasingly heated discussion of "niang cannons", that is, those "niang cannons" are really "niangs", so we can't help but reflect: are they really "niangs"? Why are they being labeled like this? And how was it posted? How should we rationalize this network phenomenon?
▍ Who is the "mother-in-law"?
The connotation definition of "Niang Cannon" in the field of online discourse is relatively consistent, that is, they all think that "Niang Cannon" is a young man who shows feminine temperament in appearance, personality, behavior and language, and thinks that they are "oily flour face A4 waist, mannerisms as orchid fingers" in appearance and demeanor, bad temper, indecisiveness, no responsibility, do not love sports in life, and are accustomed to using words such as "wow" and "uh-huh" in language. There is no consensus on the extension of "mother cannon". Some netizens and the media equate "Niang Cannon" with gay men, some think that "Niang Cannon" is a male with sexual and psychological disorders, and some point out that "Niang Cannon" is a liberal arts man. So, we can't help but ask: Who is the "mother"?
In the view of sexual role theory, being a man or a woman means playing a whole set of gender expectations, i.e. gender roles, while masculinity and femininity can easily be interpreted as internalized gender roles. If we take the endogenous personality, life and language habits of the "mother" as the internal indicators of temperament in the standard, then it can be said that the "mother" has a female gender identity in the role play, and there is a confusion between the gender role and the biological sex of young men. Returning to the question of who is the "Niang Cannon", the four feminine young stars invited in a certain issue of "The First Lesson of School" have become the fuse for the bombardment of the "Niang Cannon" in the network field, so are these so-called "Niang Cannons" really "Niang"? The author summarizes some of the information collected on the Internet about the four male celebrities as follows.
It can be seen that in terms of appearance and image, their body mass index (BMI index) is in the normal range (18.5 ~ 23.9), the body is more symmetrical, and netizens evaluate them as "handsome" and other masculine words; In terms of intrinsic personality, "sunshine" and "gentleness" are their common characteristics; In terms of living habits, both love or participate in sports. Moreover, from the aspects of endogenous personality and living habits, it does not reflect the temperament of the feminine side. It can be said that compared with the standard of "mother", these so-called "mothers" are not "mothers". In addition, looking at other male celebrities on the Internet who are called "Niang Cannon", they do not reflect the characteristics of "Niang". So why are they labeled?
▍Why do you say that they are?
According to Baidu statistics, as of mid-September 2018, there were a total of 50,100 online articles with the title of "Niang Cannon", and a total of 43,126 online articles contained words such as masculine, tough, bloody, muscular, responsible, grandfather, and man, accounting for 86%. It can be said that most of the netizens and online media who crusaded against the "mother-in-law" are based on the traditional masculinity as the core of the masculinity, as the media has called for:
"It is necessary to cultivate and carry forward the 'masculine culture' that is vigorous, pursuing, responsible, and dares to take responsibility."
For a long time, in order to ensure the legitimacy of the patriarchal system has been widely accepted by society, a hegemonic masculinity with masculinity, bloodiness, and responsibility as the core has been formed, making men in a hegemonic position and women in a subordinate position. Cornell once proposed a pluralistic masculinity theory, dividing masculinity into four types: hegemony, subordination, complicity and marginality, providing an effective theoretical framework for studying the types of masculinity under patriarchal society. Zhou Yaohui pointed out that under the Western hegemonic masculinity paradigm of "advocating physical strength and sexual conquest", the Chinese male figure in the film tries to construct an alternative ideal masculinity by diluting the sexual desire and amorous characteristics of masculinity, emphasizing self-restraint. Through in-depth analysis of fitness activities and the description of exercisers, some scholars believe that fitness shapes the male body and constructs a tough and confident masculinity. In addition, some scholars believe that the culture of male superiority and inferiority of male and female inferiority constructs the gender of those who grow up in it from childhood, and men bear the pressure and expectations of the family while also gaining power that other women in the family do not have.
As far as the local theory of masculinity is concerned, some scholars have constructed the theory of yin and yang based on traditional Chinese philosophy and cultural concepts, placing men and women in a set of binary opposing structures, and from the outside of the group, yin is female and yang is male. Song Geng pointed out that women are subordinate to "yang" men in gender relations because they belong to "yin", and "yin" seems to be only synonymous with subordinate attributes and inferior status. Because the yin and yang theory is too fluid, some scholars have developed the theory of literature and martial arts on this basis. Lei Jinqing believes that "Wen" is a superb literary literacy, educated demeanor and education level, "Wu" is a strong physique, fearless spirit and exquisite fighting skills and other characteristics, "Wen Wu Shuang Quan" is the most ideal type of Chinese masculinity.
Under the influence of patriarchy, keywords such as masculinity, bloodiness, and responsibility have been extracted from cultural concepts and traditional philosophies, becoming the main component of hegemonic masculinity and the proper label of male characters, while the feminine painting style of "lady cannon" is incompatible with it. Due to the essence of the hegemonic masculinity, when the femininity is placed in the male body, it is not only a provocation to the hegemonic masculinity, but also causes the hegemonic masculinity to denigrate the femininity more deeply. As Bourdieu points out:
"When we want to ban a person's taste, we are actually maintaining the ruling order of society."
Because the traditional hegemonic masculinity cannot tolerate the feminine temperament embodied in men, they will try their best to clear the relationship with the "niang cannon" and gather the power of the network group to label the "niang cannon" as the stigmatization label of "niang" to maintain the dominant position of men in the gender society. At the same time, the demonization of "lady cannons" through insults and ridicule, trying to remove this feminine temperament from masculinity.
▍ Who turned them into "mothers and guns"?
From the derogation of male weakness to the insulting and mocking Internet carnival, the appearance of the unworthy label of "lady cannon" is not so much the result of the violent conflict between hegemony and feminine masculinity, but rather the discovery and return of multiple masculinity. Fan Yang believes that the highest criterion that Chinese can pursue is not only masculinity, but also the traditional cultural principles such as Fa Dao Confucianism, which together constitute the psychological stereotypes of Chinese male society and jointly form the main body of national masculinity. Pi Xingcan and others believe that this complete subversion of the traditional male image is associated with "Wen" and "Wu", showing the rich connotation and characteristics of diversified masculinity in the new era. In the consumer society, "the body is the most beautiful commodity", people have paid more attention to the external image of the body, sensory experience and various stimuli than ever before, and various body images constitute a unique landscape of the consumer society era, which makes it possible for young men with feminine temperament to be labeled as "mothers".
1. The construction of visual consumption on "mother-in-law"
Under the consumer society, visual consumption limits the aesthetics of masculinity to the sensory experience of body shape, and various roles such as "tough guy" and "small fresh meat" are wrapped in multiple masculinity, and through various activities, advertisements, TELEVISION programs and other visual media, they are shaped into a body landscape for people to consume. Different from the traditional instrumental body, the consumer body is in the position of "seeing" and "being seen", and while meeting the needs of production, it is also a commodity, bringing people visual pleasure and impact. Most of the people who are called "female cannons" are young and handsome men, who highlight the de-violent, heroic dissipation and warm male feminine atmosphere, deliberately weaken the masculine atmosphere, and use the vivid and fragrant body charm and body beauty for consumers at different levels to consume "male color". While satisfying people's visual pleasure, the characteristics of whiteness, beautiful pupils, tallness, sunshine, and gentleness are copied through assembly lines to construct a feminine temperament of "lady cannon".
2. The magic of popular fun on "lady cannons"
With the decline of elite culture and the rise of mass culture, mass tastes mixed with elite tastes are increasingly dominating consumption, showing the magic of sensuality, fast food and conformism.
On the one hand, the sensual mass consumption taste leads to the pursuit of masculinity, which only emphasizes the perceptual needs of external beauty, and lacks internal attention. "Niang Cannon" has won the public's attention by "selling corruption", "exposing flesh", "self-blackening" and other methods.
On the other hand, the fast-food mass consumption taste unifies and quantifies the standards of masculinity as symbols. For example, in the netizens' summary of the "mother cannon" standard, it is often associated with symbols such as leggings, perfume, and "uh-huh". In addition, the popularity of mass consumption interest makes the packaging of "mother cannons" lack uniqueness, and provides mass consumption and entertainment through the production and marketing of assembly lines such as market manipulation, media reporting, and brand activities.
3. The transformation of "mother's cannon" by technology consumption
Consumer society is a highly technologically developed society, especially since the beginning of the 21st century, big data technology, brain-computer intelligence technology, plastic surgery technology, material science, etc. have made rapid development, which makes it possible to transform masculinity. Media technology uses the advantages of discourse to disseminate the standards of specific physical temperament to the public, and "Niang Cannon" packages and customizes the various dimensions of temperament from the inside to the outside through technical consumption to meet people's desire for physical consumption and transformation. For example, the development of plastic surgery and makeup technology has made them have a high-quality appearance and eternal youth; the development of clothing exterior technology has made them look more confident; The development of medical genetic technology has even given them the right to choose the sex, color and genetic characteristics of their offspring. In this way, through the media again, the image of the fresh and handsome artificial "lady cannon" replaces the flesh itself and becomes a new reality, and people no longer pay attention to themselves, but enjoy the sensory experience and visual stimulation they bring.
▍How to view the phenomenon of "mother-in-law"?
Through the above analysis, it can be concluded that the male youth known as "Niang Cannon" is not really a "mother", but only shows a feminine masculinity in appearance, behavior and speech and demeanor, and has attracted insults and ridicule in the network field because of the deviance of the traditional hegemonic masculinity. So, in the consumer society, how should we view this phenomenon of "rising" due to the preferences of mass culture and "lost" due to the resistance of elite culture?
In my opinion, first of all, adhere to the principle of pluralism. When looking at the phenomenon of "mothers and guns", we must respect the plurality of masculinity, and we need to change the traditional single masculinity mindset with masculinity, perseverance, toughness, etc. as the core, and use the eyes and yardsticks of understanding, tolerance and even encouragement to explore multiple masculinity, and liberate masculinity from the shackles of gender roles. Second, adhere to the principle of rational treatment. Under the consumer society, it is necessary to use a rational point of view to view the momentum and influence of the media on phenomena such as "mothers and cannons", evaluate such feminine masculinity groups from the perspective of development and social progress, and break the irrational behavior of replacing the whole itself with individual phenomena. In addition, adhere to the principle of integrity. It is necessary to pay attention to the integrity of the temperament of "Niang Cannon Er" and put the staged temperament of "Niang Gun Er" in terms of the overall temperament of their life course; combine the media temperament of "Niang Gun Er" with their realistic temperament; and put the "Niang Gun Er" temperament together with other temperaments in the context of social culture to understand and examine, and truly care for and promote the growth of young people.
This article was originally published in China Youth Studies, No. 2, 2019, and the original title was "Is 'Niang'er' Really 'Niang'?—— Re-examination of Youth Masculinity under the Consumer Society". Due to the limitation of space, the content has been edited and deleted, academic citations are omitted, and the full text can be found in the original journal. Image from the web. Welcome to share personally, media reprint please contact the copyright owner.
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