In decades past, countries have traditionally competed for world dominance by building the threat of their militaries and expanding the reach of their trade. In the modern era, however, countries are as likely to excel based on the development of their science and the desirability of their culture and lifestyle. No fools, the Chinese have been obsessively studying our culture for decades, looking for areas they can appropriate that would give them an advantage in their struggle with us for global dominance. For example, Chinese parents are increasingly sending their kids to pop up boarding schools in the U.S. that are located near Ivy League colleges and promise to get their kids admitted to those schools.
Now the Chinese have decided that it is in their interests to import toxic masculinity, and where better to find a surplus than the U.S.? There has been a national conversation in China about their concerns that their one-child policy has resulted in a generation of boys who are “too coddled and feminine,” and that “video games, masturbation and a lack of exercise . . . (are) erasing the gender characteristics of a man who is not afraid of death and hardship.”
In response to these concerns, the Chinese are setting special schools to train their 7-12 year-old boys to be “real men.” Utilizing training in football, and chest-thumping militaristic chants, such as “I am a real man! The main bearer of the family and social responsibility in the future!” these schools promise to “never cultivates sissies.” The head of the school assures parents that “when one of them cries, we will definitely not comfort him. We will only encourage him to be strong.”
I am not a xenophobic traditionalist who opposes any Chinese attempts to profit from our culture. It’s just that I was hoping they would be more attracted to other more progressive aspects of our culture rather than blindly repeating the mistakes we are still trying to dig ourselves out from under. I would feel a lot better about what we are putting out into the world if the Chinese were putting changing tables in their men’s rooms, or providing paternity leave for men when they have a child, or family leave when caring for a relative who is ill. Or maybe they would even take what we’ve learned and challenge us to take some of the next steps, like providing equal pay and advancement opportunities for women, and believing women when they make credible sexual harassment or assault claims.
That way we could help make China great again.
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