Chinese education officials are requiring more gym classes in an effort to turn schoolboys into more manly men, a plan that's being met with criticism online and debate over traditional gender norms.
Better gym instructors – and more male teachers – should be recruited to "cultivate masculinity", the education ministry has told schools and local governments.
The change came in response to a senior political adviser's suggestion last year that Chinese boys were becoming too effeminate, describing them as "weak, self-effacing and timid", traits that would constitute "a threat to the development and survival of our nation".
China's so-called "masculinity crisis" has long been a priority for authorities, with such sentiments fuelled in part by fears that China's one-child policy, which lasted over three decades, has produced a generation of men that cannot fulfill social responsibilities such as serving in the army.
![A young boy hangs from the rings during his daily training at the Shishahai Sports School. Photo / Getty](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/7P5OV2Q7A2EP7JRTWTTKHRBJRY.jpg?auth=2a7a822ab05bf745b5f6b39f2008b793befdeddec65bd54196fd8501a09f3526&width=16&height=25&quality=70&smart=true)