Mastodawn

Honestly, I long for the days of rugged, manly, battle-hardened generals.

Give me the Zhou Yiwei's and the Zu Yawens! Give me the men with broken noses, tanned skin and imperfect asymmetrical faces.

Enough with the delicate, pale-skinned generals.

Because that's not realistic. But say this out loud in #Cdrama fan circles and you might just be crucified 😆

You may think this shift happened because Chinese tastes shifted, but not really. Not all Chinese think this way as you can see!

I believe the preference for androgynous, delicate looking men rose with the popularity of bishonen in Japanese manga, but that's my theory.

source: http://xhslink.com/o/2oSq7IMp8gh

#Xiaohongshu #Cdramas #Tv #Entertainment #China

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David McMullin Dec 8

@liztai
This aesthetic preference has puzzled me since I started watching Chinese and (even more so) Korean shows. This isn’t a complaint —I don’t presume to tell Chinese and Korean audiences what they should find attractive. But the contrast with American standards is striking. To me, the leading women in these shows look like beautiful women, and the leading men… also look like beautiful women. Which I guess must be what the fans want.

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David McMullin Dec 8

@liztai
To have that delicate androgynous look, the men also have to look very young, which often contradicts the role they’re playing. I keep seeing shows where the glamorous sexy rich guy all the women want is a CEO or a general or something, and he looks like he’s 16. It strains my ability to suspend disbelief.

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Fanua 🌐Dec 8

@mcmullin @liztai One of the problems is that most of the male and female characters in the original source material are supposed to be teenagers. Some generals are teen age. #cDrama

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David McMullin

@Fanua @liztai
It works in the ancient or period-setting palace dramas, because the emperor or crown prince really could be very young and very powerful. But in the modern stories it’s harder to accept. I doubt that many billion-dollar businesses in East Asia are really run by 26-year-olds who look 14. But in the Cdramas and Kdramas I’ve seen, that’s the norm.