- Chinese social media users are celebrating Russian leader Vladimir
Putin 's version of "manliness." - Putin's
masculinity is viewed by the Chinese as a show of strength against the West, said experts.
"Recently, I've fallen in love with a 70-year-old old man. OMG he's really handsome! His name is Putin."
That's what a post read on
All across the platform, people are celebrating Vladimir Putin as utterly desirable — a man who they say is not only "good-looking," but also "charming" and "dependable" — praising Putin for his "masculine" affect.
Even as world leaders have condemned Russia for its ongoing invasion of
Since the invasion of Ukraine began on Feb 24, hundreds of posts referring to Putin as "handsome" and "charming" have appeared on Weibo, and the Weibo hashtag "Putin" has been viewed more than 470 million times.
Experts told Insider that it's not just because pro-Russia sentiment is what's allowed online in the country, given the Chinese government's tacit ban on criticisms of Russia — China has, so far, avoided calling the attacks an "invasion."
It's also because the Chinese view Putin's brand of hyper-masculinity as a show of strength and power against the West, said Prof. Angelina Chin, the history chair at Pomona College. Putin reflects how China wishes to present itself on the world stage.
"Since the 2000s, China has tried very hard to become a superpower in the world, and with Xi Jinping coming to power in the early 2010s, creating a strong, dominant public image has become more important than ever," Chin told Insider.
"At the same time, Putin has been grooming himself to be a very macho and powerful alpha male. He has become the idol of many women in China because he gives the impression that he is a strong leader who can steer the country in the right direction," she continued.
For years, Putin, now 69, has cultivated a macho performance — from baring his chest on horseback in the mountains of Siberia, to bare-chested spearfishing on a Siberian lake, to taking dips in Siberia's icy waters (again, sans shirt).
Such overt displays of manliness comport well with China's pro-masculinity agenda.
Last year, the Chinese education ministry called on schools to reform their physical education class offerings to counter the "feminization" of young men. The directive came months after top political advisor Si Zefu said that these initiatives were needed to prevent boys from becoming "delicate, timid and effeminate," per NBC News.
In September, Beijing ordered broadcasters to ban what they termed "sissy men and other abnormal aesthetics" on TV.
"Si Zefu also criticized androgynous idols and said that children wanted to be like them rather than 'army heroes,'" Chin said. "Government propaganda is powerful and influential, so this affects how women in China see Putin as the new desirable man."
China's promotion of masculinity lines up with its "wolf warrior" style of diplomacy. Coined after a nationalist war film in which Chinese special forces defeat American mercenaries, the term refers to Chinese diplomats using hawkish rhetoric.
Liu Wen, a research fellow at the Taipei's Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, also noted that Putin's style of masculinity reinforces China's social goals.
"Gender diversity to the Chinese state is not only viewed as an annoyance but a threat to its national security, because it facilitates alternative community affiliations, sub-cultures, and potential critiques against the fragile facade of national unity," she told Insider. "In times of crisis, people tend to gravitate toward a simple and coherent narrative about the nation."