You’d think that one of the top rules to be a member of a boy band would be that you have to be a, well, boy. Followed by ‘mandatory floppy hair’ and ‘easily replicable dance moves’. But it’s 2017 and gender fluidity is not just a trend that fashion designers are pushing, because according to reports, one of the most popular boy bands in China is entirely made up of girls.
Meet FFC-Acrush, a five-member ensemble who already have an online fan club of almost 1 million, despite not having released a single music video yet. The result of a year-long talent search conducted by the Fantasy Football Confederation, the unique band owes its genesis to Li Yuchen, an androgynous Chinese pop star who shot to overnight fame after winning a reality show in 2005. Their unisex look and singing talent won members Lu Keran, An Junxi, Peng Xichen, Min Junqian and Lin Fan a spot in pop music history.
FFC-Acrush prefers to use the gender neutral term ‘meishaonian’ (Chinese for ‘handsome youths’) instead of the conventional ‘he’ or ‘she’. The androgynous band first made an appearance in November at a music event called ‘Husband Exhibition’. Chinese tweens refer to the male celebrities they would like to marry as ‘Husbands’.
Us too, Chinese tweens, us too.
