Actors Get A ‘Ear-Full’ From China? Yes, And No. Here’s Why

Chinese social media has seen an uprising of sorts as the decision by a popular Chinese video streaming platform to censor actors’ ears, especially those who wear earrings, has been criticised. The Netflix-like streaming service iQiyi has blurred the actors’ earlobes. Some of the images have gone viral, giving rise to the trending hashtag #MaleTVStarsCantWearEarrings.

The hashtag has been used more than 88,000 times on Weibo. This is nothing new as TV programmes in China generally censor anything that represents the hip-hop culture, tattoos and LGBT symbols.

BBC quoted a Weibo user as commenting, “Men who wear earrings are sissies, Genghis Khan's a sissy, we should block him, and kick him out of our history books.” Many users termed it as sexual discrimination as actresses have not been blurred of their earrings.

In China, more often than not, domestic content is subjected to heavy review and needs the approval of the Communist party before it is aired or published. Many called the actors being effeminate and not being dressed like a ‘man’.

When it comes to topics of international relevance, the approvals take even longer to come from the party offices.