NextSharkNextShark.com

China’s ban on female lingerie models leads to lingerie-wearing male models in shopping livestreams

China’s ban on female lingerie models leads to lingerie-wearing male models in shopping livestreams

While many Chinese social media users find the male-model trend amusing, others point out that this meant fewer job opportunities for women

March 2, 2023
SHARE
Lingerie-wearing male models have recently become a growing trend in Chinese e-commerce broadcasts after the government imposed a ban on women modeling lingerie on livestreams.
The ban, which is being implemented under China’s law against spreading obscene online material, has resulted in the closure of businesses that employed female lingerie models.
After one online shopping streamer replaced its models with male models in December, many businesses have since followed suit, effectively circumventing the ban.
An e-commerce business owner identified as Mr. Xu told Jiupai News that he chose to use male models in their livestream shopping shows simply because their designs can no longer be modeled by their female models.
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter

A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.

Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.

Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.

“Personally, we don’t really have a choice,” he was quoted by Business Insider as saying. 
Tapping into the loophole may have even created a novel marketing strategy for the businesses that make them stand out from other sellers of female products.
But while many Chinese social media users find the male lingerie model trend amusing, there are others who have pointed out that this means fewer job opportunities for women. 
“If it’s a female model, the livestream would be banned every other minute, it’s not like this hasn’t happened before, this is still depriving a group of women of their job opportunities,” a popular Weibo comment read.
In response to the feedback, Xu said: “Many directors of these livestreams are women, are they also stealing men’s jobs?” 
Male models had been used to successfully sell traditionally female products online in China even before the ban.
Wu Nan, a 41-year-old businessman whose Douyin username translates to “Uncle Wu Who Wears High Heels,” previously went viral for his videos in which he runs and jumps in high heels to demonstrate their quality.
MOST READ
    HAPPENING NOW
      Ryan General

      Ryan General is a Senior Reporter for NextShark

      SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

      RELATED STORIES FROM NEXTSHARK

      Support
      NextShark's
      Journalism

      Many people might not know this, but NextShark is a small media startup that runs on no outside funding or loans, and with no paywalls or subscription fees, we rely on help from our community and readers like you.

      Everything you see today is built by Asians, for Asians to help amplify our voices globally and support each other. However, we still face many difficulties in our industry because of our commitment to accessible and informational Asian news coverage.

      We hope you consider making a contribution to NextShark so we can continue to provide you quality journalism that informs, educates, and inspires the Asian community. Even a $1 contribution goes a long way. Thank you for supporting NextShark and our community.

      © 2023 NextShark, Inc. All rights reserved.