Summary: From beauty to beautiful beauty, a new trend of consumption

Fashionable life, healthy body, rich thoughts, deep emotions, coupled with a number of neutral style trends

Formerly forgotten men's color aesthetics are being revived. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was one of the themes of urban life aesthetics. Today, hundreds of years later, the most sexy men and male figures are highly prized. As forecasters predicted, in the 21st century, women are the “primary” of the world. With women as the main object of consumer demand, an era of female consumption has come. Behind the age of male color, it is the flourishing female culture that is becoming increasingly powerful. Regardless of whether or not the term "Men Color Age" touched the fragile self-esteem of men and women in the world, what we have seen is just a star-shadow of entertainment. They are only masked by the "Men Color Economy" behind it.

The year 2001 seemed to be a turning point: F4, a figure-male combination, turned out, whipped up a "new male style", or even entered the "man age". “I really don’t know if I should love them as a son-in-law or love as a lover!” said Auntie, a 50-year-old, blushing heartily when the F4 was in full swing. When one of the members, Jerry Yan, visited the Philippines, even President Arroyo was personally named. Suddenly the man was stunned and the woman's mind kept silent.

Almost at the same time, the English new word metrosexual began to spread in the country. However, according to research, as early as 1994, British reporter Mark Simpson created the word. The word was synthesized by metro (sexual) and gender, and someone translated it as "urban neutral male" or "post-Ya." In 2003, metrosexual took the top spot in the popular words list on the American Language Association's official website.

In 2003, a cultural company named “Golden Age” called up five big guys like Chen Long and Li Xueqing to shoot an almanac called “Beautiful Male”. This slightly ambiguous and teasing name, supplemented by five glamorous faces, stunned people - so that men could be so beautiful. It seems that the classic dialogue in Xingye's film is "Flower, is it really you?". It doesn't matter if you don't believe that such a name as "flower" actually can be used by a man.

Male color changes

Just like the emergence of tough guy Takakura Ken, who knocked down a pile of twins, the emergence of a large number of gentlemen reminded us that we are entering a new era of male color.

Perhaps when most people hear "male color," they will first think of the "four famous stars" in the early twentieth century: Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yuqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, Yan Huisheng. That kind of graceful gracefulness and demon charming, the entire wind has swept a nation for decades.

In fact, men's colors have come from China, and similar words like “face powder” are used to describe men's appearance. Sheng Shengqiang boss Fu Sheng said: "Especially in the late Qing Dynasty homosexual novels, there have been 'male' in the word, but the meaning of the time was somewhat unhealthy. Based on the factors of cultural awareness, the concept of male color in our country for a long time does not Mentioned: Now that the material and cultural conditions are becoming more and more abundant, the public's appreciation of tastes is more tolerant and pluralistic, and men's colors have only been proposed, but the mood has been different."

Wang Feng, editor of the men magazine "Fashion Health," believes that "the so-called 'Malay Age' does not begin with a single person. Compared to the later longer-term development, everything that happened in these two years is at a very early stage. There are some male characters, male media, male consumerism, male economics, all of which constitute the beginning of a male era.”

Wang Feng said: "Marx said: People are the sum of all social relations. If you define men's colors based on this, it should not have a beautiful face as we had previously understood. It should be: a stylish life and health. The body includes man's body, rich thoughts, deep emotions, and some neutral style trends."

China's "Urban Beauty Men"

This point of view is in line with the vocabulary of metrosexuality, which has dominated the fashion of men in recent years. It refers specifically to men who live in metropolitan areas with inner sensitive narcissism and outward appearance.

One of the iconic characters of the urban beauty is Beckham. Wearing skirts, manicures, beauty tattoos, and changing hairstyles, Beckham has always been the focus of attention in the world. His image promotion has been said to have become a classic case of modern marketing, as a cultural symbol to change the way men act by British academics. Research.

In Mainland China, three names that comment on urban beauty men are most often mentioned: Hu Bing, Li Xueqing, and Lu Zhi. Hu Bing, who was born as an athlete, was the first male model in China to be dubbed the "Chief Male Model". Standing 189cm tall, his well-defined face was full of smiles. In recent years, he has turned to the performing arts community and his "chief" position has remained unattainable until he emerged in 2002.

“A stuff that belongs to her century penetrates the eye of the crowd under the sun and health.” This sentence is a description of Li Xueqing in the “Beauty Men” and is exceptionally embarrassing. After his debut, Li Xueqing, who was regarded as “the most expensive and sexy male model in China”, took the “Asian Face Model” contest winner, Japan’s “Asian Top 10 Hot Guys” Zha Jun, and the UK’s “Top 10 Male Models” in the public list. Nine players, including the United States’ 10th among the world's top 10 sexy male stars, have established a new position as the “Chief Male Model”.

Some media commented that "it is a truly urban "male-style male" that is made in China. He has both Chinese classical male faces and powder, as well as Japanese and Korean men's neutral charm."

The value of beautiful men

Filming, filling records, taking pictures, receiving advertisements, attending various types of business activities... Once the beautiful men become famous, all kinds of opportunities for making money come in. It is not a difficult matter to get out of poverty overnight to make a full set.

According to statistics, when F4 starred in the "Meteor Garden" became a hit, it created a commercial profit of 150 million Hong Kong dollars. In 2003, Li Xueqing, who ranked 82 on "Forbes" and "China's Celebrity Income Ranking", set a new value for Chinese male models this year. - The reward for taking the four shows was higher than the income of the other 40 male models; Hu Bing had lost luggage at the airport not long ago. The list of losses listed included six precious diamond watches and designer clothes and jewelry worth a total of more than 2 million.

Fu Sheng believes that the intangible value of male artists is even more exciting: “In the entertainment market, consumer groups are dominated by women, so the actor’s market is relatively dominant. And male artists’ performing arts are generally much longer than actresses, such as Andy Lau from The teens have been red for nearly 30 years, and female artists can be as red as they are for many years.The actresses who played with Andy Lau from Chen Yulian, Zhao Yazhi to Cecilia Cheung, Rene Liu, Zhang Ziyi may have younger , such a couple partner can not appear in the female artist body, you can imagine Zhao Yazhi and Wu Yanzu play a couple? So once the actor is done, their market will be more open, greater social influence."

The price of the United States men rose, and even Qiongyao, a female artist, was hard to keep silent. Although Li Jingping, the person in charge, insists, “the appearance is not the most important, and the acting skills are good enough to focus on.” But she still said: “If there are suitable candidates, we will not reject signing the so-called 'male artist'.”

The beautiful consumer of male color era

Following the footsteps of the men's color era, the concept of "man-colored economy" was also in place. It also attracted a group of pioneering nuggets. The handsome male actor likes to take a shot at the hot market, the men's beauty contest to open the battle, criticize the male-colored programs to fill the screen, and the sexy naked man occupies the cover of the magazine. The subversion of the traditional male color culture quickly takes a bite to the consumer field.

Wang Feng believes that men's rights and women's rights are growing up. “In the past, gender consumption was generally determined by men. Men were the absolute body of society and they consumed women. Now that women have improved their social status and economic independence, women’s opinions have become increasingly important in the aesthetic sense. Women’s aesthetics have influenced The flow of social aesthetics. In such circumstances, men's color rises naturally.

The actor's photo is hot

Following the launch of the first non-sale photo album “Kings of Qing Dynasty” for Li Xueqing in 2002, Shengshi Qiang will create a new album “Love of Qingcheng” for him this year. Fu Sheng said: "The photo album is one of the most effective means of self-promotion for male artists, and it is also an expression of artist's personal charisma and commercial value. In the future, according to the needs of the market, we plan to introduce some photo albums each year."

When talking about some opinions on male artists, Fu Sheng disagrees: “There has been a lot of controversy about male celebrities in the photo. Some questions are endless. Everyone has their own opinions. I think that as long as they are not against the law, the style is good. It's good for Jason to fully demonstrate men's strength and beauty and produce market effects."

He also pointed out that China's current concept of photowriting is not clear. “The word “photograph” was first created by a famous Japanese photographer. The word was originally written in Japanese as 'photographing of a bare body'. Later when Hong Kong and Taiwan introduced the word, many of the beautiful people’s heads were included in it. I think one Responsible and conceptual photobooks should have at least part of the body in them. At the same time, they must be ideological and content, and certainly must be healthy."

As early as the mid-1990s, singers Cai Guoqing and He Weiqi launched photo albums successively, but Fu Sheng could not determine who was the earliest male actor. "I only know that Hu Bing is the mainland's most photo-realistic actor, and Lu Yi's 2002 book of the same name was the hottest, with about 300,000 to 400,000 copies." He also said: "Tian Liang is going to write a photo soon. It should be quite good to sell because he has this capital. Since the public like him, it is understandable to enter this circle."

Because at the end of the month Tian Liang and Lu Yi joined the Emperor’s rumor, their agent Liu Hao did not want to be interviewed, but said: “Lu Yi’s second photo album is under preparation. The current text and pictures have been completed, and the next April and May Can be launched, the title of the book has not yet been set. Tian Liang will also start to go abroad to shoot pictures at the beginning of the new year."

Men's beauty pageant is booming

Unlike men who have capital out of photobooks, those who have no reputation and market but are natural and hard to give up, the most effective short cut for people to think of is nothing more than various levels of beauty pageant activities.

In the past, China had never had a men's beauty contest and only went to the first China Men's Model Competition in 1999. But that was still part of the female model competition in the model competition. Although the same year Chinese male model Hu Dong participated in the World Men's Model Contest and won the title of “Best Male Model in the World”, it made up for the gap of the Chinese male model in the international industry, but the topic of male beauty pageant has always been insignificant.

In 2004, a men's beauty contest known as the "Mr. China" contest ignited the campfire in China, and nearly 1,000 men from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Northeast China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Hawaii entered the competition. On March 28, 2005, the top three selected from each division will compete for the title of "Mr. China" in Beijing.

Mr. Ren Wei, Secretary General of the "Mr. China" Competition Organizing Committee, did not approve of the phrase "male beauty pageant": "We are a large-scale event organized by the Chinese Culture and Art Development Foundation of the Ministry of Culture. We don't generally use the word "beautiful beauty." It is the men's elite selection." But he did not object that this is the first formal male beauty contest in China.

Ren Wei previously planned a number of large-scale female beauty contests, such as "Miss China." “After the SARS outbreak in 2003, the beauty pageant campaign was particularly prosperous. I suddenly thought of engaging in a formal men's pageant competition. The idea was to come from 'Miss China'.” But at that time, the government was conservative about this kind of beauty contest, and no public support was not forbidden. "Based on this, we have positioned our activities in the selection of outstanding young people's public welfare activities. We invited relevant government agencies and officials to participate in the competition. It should be said that the government has acquiesced."

There are four basic conditions for the “Mr. China” competition: ages 18 to 35, height above 175CM, college education, and foreign language skills. Ren Hao said happily: “The registration situation is still ideal. The players account for one-sixth of the models, students account for one-sixth, and others come from all sectors of society. The highest level in the Beijing competition is the post-doctoral degree and master's degree of Tsinghua University. In addition, there are many undergraduates, and there are also many special talents: IT engineers, the captain of the Qinghua team, the fifth squad leader of the National Flag Guard, the CCTV host, and the players' performance is satisfactory.

Hu Bing also believes: "This kind of selection can't just look outward. If you only look at the appearance, then it will become a model. In the 'Mr. Shanghai' selection, all the models have been defeated, and those who are not surprising and more intelligent Talented people are elected. Wisdom and self-cultivation are more important. Personality is more important."

TV men show show out

In the era of men's color, television is also unwilling. Star TV's "Beauty Pass" started in 2002 and was the first to open the mainland TV show. The male host led ten beautiful women and teased the male players on the stage. The audience of 200 female audiences looked forward to the hope that unsatisfied men would be kicked into the pool.

Luo Xiaopeng, Star Satellite TV production director, said, "Beauty Pass" is not their own ideas, the prototype is an Australian program, has been released in the world for nearly ten years. “A program viewing group is 16 to 60 years old. The audience is equal to half male and female. It does not mean that only a woman can watch a male program. Before we did that, we realized the great potential of “Beauty Pass”. In a developing country as big as China, the economy And society is growing at a rapid rate. This kind of thing is absolutely acceptable, especially in the city."

"Let women be judges of women's desires. I think it's important. This is an entertainment program. And frankly, we don't have the meaning of a little draft. Men's players are fat, thin, high and short. The general public, but the program's conduct must follow a certain logic, from his appearance, to his inner, to his connotation, even his personality.Each level actually has a certain reason, the male player wins every week It's not always the most handsome. It's not a draft show. It's just that we're choosing a good man in a woman's heart.

If the "Beauty Pass" is just a sensation of packaging, then Hunan's "Absolute Man" launched last year has expanded the display of men's muscle, strength, and talent to beauty contests.

The popularity of male magazines

As another important feature of male color consumption, male magazines such as "Brand Name" and "Men Gang" have appeared on the stage. In 2004, a professional male magazine named "Fashion Health" quickly emerged. Chief editor Wang Feng said: "We are not the first professional male magazine in China, but it is the most influential."

"Fashion Health" took the sexy line, all the red actor took a shot on the cover. In addition to Liu Yi, Lu Yi and other first-line artists, IT talents Zhang Chaoyang, sports star Liu Yunfei, and the sexy cover of the chief male model Li Xueqing all caused strong repercussions. Fu Sheng said: "A lot of male stars want to go. Now the cover of "Fashion Health" has become a measure of popularity."

Talking about here, Wang Feng is quite proud: “On the cover of us are all popular and attractive men, involving multiple industries. Do not necessarily have to dew point, but in 2004 the cover of the 12 issues are bare upper body, hoping to show A sexy, healthy, sunny and energetic image with depth. The cover of each issue will generate a topic, and everyone will guess who the next issue is. The cover is the face of a magazine, this year's face is still Not bad."

The exposure of Zhang Chaoyang’s exposed appearance in the October issue last year has caused great controversy. The Internet is even more buzzing, and some people even say that Zhang Chaoyang’s ass skills are not enough to save Sohu. However, Wang Feng does not care: "The Internet is not something that is not on the Internet. We have always been a star in performing arts. We want to break this limitation. In September, we became a sports star and in October we became a business community. We have a healthy body and spirit. In line with the positioning of our magazine, Zhang Chaoyang, who represents the business community, is faced with very difficult conditions. It is just that we don’t want to shoot him in a suit and tie. This kind of image has appeared in numerous magazines. We want to have some ideas and want him to present them. The true side of the body is the most positive, and the results are particularly loud."

How big are these sexy actor's bodies for market appeal? At least from the "fashion health" this year's trend is still considerable. It is said that in the dozens of publications of the Fashion Group in 2004, both the growth rate of the distribution and the advertising growth rate of "Fashion Health" ranked first. Wang Feng does not deny that it is relying on the momentum of the men's era. “The media and the society are an interactive relationship. The media sometimes caters to a certain trend in the community and even fuels it. But a responsible media, what it launches should be Social co-produced. Our market targets 18 to 32-year-old men and women who are 'interested in men'. At present, 30% of our readers are women." Xu Min, “Time People Weekly”