“Moms’ Boys,” “Phoenix Men,” “Soft Rice Men,” and “Puxin Men”: The Application of Chinese Masculinities to Domestic Violence Perpetrators

The correlation between domestic violence and masculinities has been confirmed by many studies. In China, although there is already relevant research examining domestic violence from the perspective of masculinity, they have seldom prioritized women's perspectives, which feminist scholars argue are crucial for exposing the mechanisms of patriarchal power. Prevailing theories of masculinity, particularly Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity, are rooted in Western contexts, and how her theory can be applied to the Chinese context is a question worth discussing. Our study indigenizes Connell's framework to investigate how Chinese women on the social media platform Weibo construct and critique masculinities in the context of domestic violence. A dataset of 1,514 comments related to three high-profile domestic violence cases was collected and analyzed through the lens of four memetic discourses: "Moms' Boys," "Phoenix Men," "Soft Rice Men," and "Puxin Men." The key undesirable masculine traits identified by women include "irresponsibility or excessive filial piety to the original family," "traditional rural background," "economic dependence," "gender superiority," and a rejection of "violence" and "disrespect toward women." This study further theorizes contemporary Chinese masculinities by bridging Chinese masculinity studies with digital feminist critiques of domestic violence, highlighting how shifting gender expectations intersect with class, economic status, the urban-rural divide, and gendered power dynamics in contemporary China, shaping women's critiques of male perpetrators. It also reveals contradictions within feminist discourse in the Chinese context, where women simultaneously reject traditional male dominance while upholding certain gendered expectations that may inadvertently reinforce patriarchal ideals.