Why is China blurring men's ears?

CNN ^ | 5:52 AM ET, Fri January 18, 2019 | Joshua Berlinger and Nanlin Fang

[Zhang Fei]

(CNN) Chinese TV personality Jing Boran has something on his ear that authorities don't want you to see.

In the latest episode of the popular Chinese reality TV show "I, Actor," the young star's face is digitally altered to blur out his earrings.

Jing, who held lead roles in Chinese box office hits "Monster Hunt" and "Time Raiders," is not the only victim of the alleged "earring ban." Images circulating on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, show several other young male stars with blurred circles on their ears. It's unclear if Chinese regulators have issued a specific directive barring men from being shown wearing earrings, or whether TV stations are reacting to a shift in what is considered culturally appropriate.

Last year, China's media regulator banned TV stations from featuring actors with tattoos. Depictions of "hip hop culture, sub-culture and immoral culture," were also banned according to Chinese state media.

Grace Leung, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's School of Journalism and Communications, said the decision to blur earrings is likely influenced by the government's desire to minimize Western impact in China's pop culture.

"This is a consistent policy of purify their pop culture from the Western influence and strengthening the Chinese characteristics of manhood," Leung, who teaches media regulation and policy issues, told CNN in an email.

[Zhang Fei]

I would love to see these guys go whole hog and start requiring traditional Chinese costumes and hairstyles for all Chinese TV and movie content. Heck - isn't using electricity and watching TV cultural appropriation?

[matthew fuller]

"Depictions of "hip hop culture, sub-culture and immoral culture," were also banned according to Chinese state media. "

Sounds like they're somewhat more advanced than Hollywood.

[DannyTN]

Do I want to see men with earrings. No.

Thanks China.

[BenLurkin]

Has Gillette heard about this yet?

[DannyTN]

I think Gillette is still trying to figure out how that razor managed to slip and cut off it’s manhood.

[hanamizu]

Heck - isn’t using electricity and watching TV cultural appropriation?

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No, according to the definition of some campus group, cultural appropriation can only be done by members of a dominant (read white) group, never by a group “of color”. Now some may argue that China has been the dominant group of its neck of the woods for thousands of years, but they worked on the transcontinental railroad, so...

It’s the same argument that says non-whites can never be racist.

[Larry Lucido]

Can they wear braids?

[Buckeye McFrog]

The Chinese are flapping their ears
faster than the shutter speed.

[yldstrk]

The Chinese population is tagged, like pigs and sheep?

[SkyDancer]

Don’t want to have men seen wearing ear studs.

[glorgau]

They’re trying to disguise the actors so that the evil westerners can’t use ear recognition technology to track them.

[Zhang Fei]

[The Chinese population is tagged, like pigs and sheep?]

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That’s what its rulers would wish. The reality is quite different. The standard narrative - reinforced by regime propaganda pushed out in hopes of this being self-fulfilling prophecy - is that they are docile. The reality is that the hoi polloi are just biding their time. Alone among major civilizations, Chinese peasant revolts have spawned three major dynasties - the Han, the Ming and the current Red. Collectively, these peasant-founded regimes have ruled China for almost 800 years. That’s not even counting the numerous other Chinese peasant revolts that came within a whisker of gaining the throne. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shun_dynasty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Whereas in most other civilizations, regime changes typically involved groups of noble families fighting for the throne.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Sounds like a good idea😊.

[Antipolitico]

We just spent 2 1/2 weeks in China and we really appreciated the lack of weird, repulsive and decadent behaviors. Everyone was very nice, polite, sweet women and normal acting people in general. I wish Americans still behaved like that. And they actually seemed happy. And yes, I know all about the social score.