China's state TV regulator has banned the showing of effeminate men and has called for the promotion of more 'masculine' role models.
The Asian superpower is in the midst of a 'national rejuvenation', according to the Associated Press, and they don't want any more 'sissy men' (China's words, not ours) on their small screens.
President Xi Jinping Communist Party will now be putting business, education, culture and religion under the microscope to see if they uphold the country's values.
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One of those targets is to 'resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal aesthetics' on the TV. China's state regulator used the derogatory word 'niang pao' during their announcement, which translates to 'girlie guns'.
They want to end any sort of influence popping up from neighbours South Korea and Japan, where the porcelain faces of pretty men have skyrocketed to stardom in product commercials and in pop culture.
The country fears this lack of promotion of 'masculine men' will emasculate the younger generations. Instead, they want China to stand in these arenas as tough and strong.
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China wants to ban the promotion of 'vulgar internet celebrities' and 'vigorously promote excellent Chinese traditional culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture'.
It comes as the country also tries to pivot against the video game industry by banning under-18s from gaming too much.
The new rule means children will only be permitted to play video games for one hour a day, between 8pm-9pm - and exclusively on Fridays, weekends and public holidays, according to the Xinhua state news agency.
The move is designed to protect the physical and mental health of young people - although no doubt the announcement of the ban will have done nothing for the mental health of children in the short term.
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The rules represent a new, firmer clampdown on children's gaming time. Back in 2019, China limited under-18s to 90 minutes any day of the week, and three hours a day on holidays.
Last week, it was announced that Chinese regulators are to exercise greater control over the algorithms used by the country's technology firms to personalise and recommend content.
The country's internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China, released a draft proposal of 'algorithm recommendation management regulations' aimed at managing how technology companies use algorithms when providing services to consumers.
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The move aims to strengthen data privacy and consumer rights, as well as curtailing anti-competitive practices, in order to curb the outsized influence of technology companies.
Under the draft regulations, companies must disclose the basic principles, purpose and operation mechanism of its algorithm recommendation services, and must include convenient options for users to turn these off.
Algorithms should also not be used in ways that may cause addictive behaviours in users, or induce them to spend excessively - although it is not yet clear how this would be enforced.
Featured Image Credit: Youth With You