Translating the pet man: the “milky puppy” imaginary and neoliberal subjectivity

ABSTRACTThe term “milky puppy” (xiao naigou) gained popularity as a slang term in Chinese cyberspace since 2017, symbolizing a young, endearing, and adorable male figure, much like the perception of a puppy. This phenomenon, influenced by Hallyu 4.0 and the toshishita romantic motif prevalent in Japanese and Korean popular cultures, has led to the emergence of an “older woman-younger man” relationship pattern as a new trend in Chinese digital entertainment, particularly TV dramas. In this context, the younger, “pet” boyfriend is commonly referred to as a “milky puppy.” This article investigates the transnational flow and cultural translation of the Pet Man imaginary in East Asia, arguing that the bodily rhetoric of “milky puppy” signifies a Chinese variant of moe culture and represents the commodification of the male body. The article presents critical analyses of two recent Chinese TV dramas within this romantic subgenre, Find Yourself and The Rational Life, and compares them to the South Korean drama Something in the Rain. Through this comparative study, the article aims to identify distinctive Chinese characteristics in the portrayal of pet man masculinity in these dramas. By engaging with feminist and governmentality theories, the study explores how gender dynamics in these dramas negotiate between neoliberal subjectivity and the resilience of patriarchal gender norms in postsocialist China.KEYWORDS: Chinamasculinitycultural translationEast AsiaTV dramaneoliberal subjectivity Notes1 Online commentaries pointed out many similarities between the drama and I’m Taking the Day Off, including the character of the protagonists, funny family members, and a beloved dog in the female protagonist’s family, as well as the existence of an older man who has a crush on the female protagonist and approaches her on the pretense of offering her relationship advice. For more details, see https://star.ettoday.net/news/1634057 (accessed May 19, 2022).2 The “bossy CEO” (badao zongcai) refers to a subgenre of revamped Cinderella stories in online fiction and TV dramas. The stories center on a love story between a wealthy and domineering young man and a humble girl. See Song (Citation2023) for a discussion of this subgenre.3 https://movie.douban.com/review/12207102/ (accessed June 8, 2022).4 Boys Over Flowers is originally a Japanese manga series by Yoko Kamio serialized during 1992–2008. It has been adapted into films and TV dramas in a variety of East Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mainland China, and Thailand, and has become an icon of the Pan-East Asian aesthetic of male effeminacy.Additional informationNotes on contributorsGeng SongGeng Song is an Associate Professor and Director of the Translation Program in the School of Chinese at the University of Hong Kong. He has been selected as a Luce East Asia Fellow at the National Humanities Centre, USA, for the 2022/23 academic year. Song’s research interests span transcultural, transdisciplinary, and transhistorical perspectives on gender and popular culture in China, with a focus on topics such as Chinese masculinity, television, and nationalism. His publications include The Fragile Scholar: Power and Masculinity in Chinese Culture (2004), Men and Masculinities in Contemporary China (co-authored with Derek Hird, 2014), Televising Chineseness: Gender, Nation, and Subjectivity (2022), as well as numerous research articles published in journals such as Modern China, The China Journal, Men and Masculinities, Asian Studies Review, Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, and Nan Nü.