Some people in China believe that the nation's overprotected boys are quickly becoming physically and emotionally weak.

With a strongman president, a powerful military, and an enormous economic clout, China is worried that this "crisis of masculinity" is tainting the country's image of strength and confidence.

Like Us on Facebook

Gender equality in China is less defined compared with western countries, and some observers in the country believe that the so-called masculinity crisis could lead to social problems and even put the country's national security in peril.

As a result, a new school textbook, which aims to teach boys how to be masculine, has been released. The book called "Little Men" tackled the differences between boys and girls as well as the importance of establishing a solid father-son relationship, interacting with nature, and managing money.

The book was first published in 2015 by Shanghai Educational Publishing House and has been approved for fourth and fifth grade classes in China.

"This course is necessary for boys. They are so overprotected by the family they don't do physical exercises anymore," Miao Li, a 36-year-old businessman, said.

"Nowadays, girls are becoming more like boys while the boys are becoming more like girls, introverted and shy," Huang, a parent and a hotel employee, noted.

Tian, a retired worker and grandfather to an 8-year-old boy, believes that boys are now less masculine than during his time. Another retiree named Huang said that boys are more fragile emotionally and physically owing to too much homework.

China's masculinity problems can be traced to a number of events. One of the major ones is the country's One Child policy, which was implemented between 1979 and 2015 to restrict the number of children Chinese families are allowed to have in a bid to curb rapid population growth.

Sheng, the mother of a first grader, suggested that over-indulgence and parents' fear of losing their only child has curbed the adventurous nature of boys.

Observers have long complained of a social phenomena such as the "little emperor syndrome" or "Prince Syndrome," where children grow with pampering and constant praise, leading many of them to have poor social skills and increasingly over-reliant on their parents.

Some observers also blamed China's education system, pointing out that an acute shortage of male teachers deprived boys of male role models.

Tagschina, gender equality, Society news