Straight man cancer

Straight man cancer (Chinese: 直男癌; pinyin: zhí nán ái)^[1] coined by the users of Chinese social networks Douban and Weibo in mid-2014, is a Chinese relationship slang that generally used to depict the chauvinist, judgmental behaviors and language of narrow-minded macho men who propel sexist double standards or belittles women.

The term originated from mainland China^[2] could be a result of the self-sufficient economy and family tradition of preference for sons and personal factors that this kind of men’s self-worth could not be achieved and their unawareness of women’s status.

This is a term thrown at masculine men who are perceived to be overly proud of their poor taste and live in the all-too-narrow confines of their own world. This kind of man hold outdated moral values and would be more fitted to an ancient Chinese society, particularly when talking and thinking about women. He has terrible fashion sense, feels good about himself and disrespects women. This term reflects a typical phenomenon that widely appears in China and all over the world.^[3]

Characteristics

• Making nonsensical requests and demands.
• Advocating materialism.
• Displaying extreme emotions.
• Being self-indulgent, not logical.
• Not willing to take any responsibility (to shirk one's duty).
• Being self-centered.
• Desiring to be an authority.
• Yearning to rely on others.
• Focused on work.
• Cannot get along well with females.
• Have no sense in fashion but unaware of it.
• Deeply fearful of homosexuals.
• Maintains obsolete social ideas.
• Not respecting females.
• Extremely dependent on his mother.

Causes

Historical self-sufficiency

The self-sufficient economy (also called small-scale peasant economy), a basic socio-economic formation in Chinese feudal society, has lasted for more than 2000 years in ancient China. It did not require any aid, support, or interaction, for survival; therefore it is a type of personal or collective autonomy, which contributes a lot to the formation of the idea of male supremacy.^[4]

Since men have advantages in physical strength, they occupy an increasingly important position in the main production sectors and women relegated to a secondary position in production. Thus, men became the backbone of the family, while women became their accessory.^[5] The Chinese society took a gradual transition to the patriarchal society.

Preference for sons

Numerous Chinese families which still have been influenced a lot by the patriarchal tradition, especially the rural families, tend to have a preference for boys rather than girls. They spoil the boys in their family which might affect their sons’ cognition of the social level of men and women. This makes men value themselves over women and causes male chauvinism.^[6][7]

With the maturity of economic development, social mobility is solely based on personal academic achievements. Parents under this competitive environment are pressured to cultivate children with great talents so they have a better chance of getting into a prestigious school and eventually take their place in the middle or upper class. This tension spreads through every detail of the children's lives, like complaining when teachers give the child a low grade, with the intention to raise their competitiveness. The children's development suffers because of their parents' over-protectiveness.

Low self-worth and lack of awareness of women's status

With the emergence of women succeeding in both academics and their careers, the role that women play in the society is increasingly important. However, some men remain oblivious to the change in women’s social statuses. According to the gender inequality index issued by the United Nations program development in 2013, China ranked 91 among 187 countries, the ranking is even lower than Iran and Ukraine.

Some men could not succeed in their careers were not able to fulfill their ambitions. They often choose to remove their attention and criticize women to fulfill their vanity and amuse themselves regardless of women’s success.

Examples

1. Lin Shaohua: He declared that men should avoid housework, as pots and pans are fatal to men. "They wear out a man’s thinking and spirit—that’s the reason why there are effeminate men," and thinks what he said was totally right.^[8]
2. Qi Yihu (齐一虎): women might consider working half time and taking care of the family half of the time. "That way you can take care of parents, husband and kids. This way, you don't completely separate the women from social contact, and at the same time you can take care of the family, you can call it killing two birds with one stone."^[8]
3. Han Han had gone on the record stating his girlfriend could not work outside the house. His form of "straight man cancer" was labelled "curable."^[9]
4. Celebrity English teacher Li Yang, who famously admitted beating his American wife, Kim Lee.^[10]

See also

• Patriarchy
• Male chauvinism
• Female chauvinism
• Feminism

References