Earning women make better-looking men

The flood of advertisements on men's cosmetics have gradually become a force propelling the spending spree on Singles Day, which falls on Nov 11, and indicating a silent change in Chinese men's perception about looks.

According to Gome Holdings, one of China's leading online shopping center, clothing was a top consumer product for Chinese men in the first half of this year, comparable to electronics products, which traditionally make up the lion's share of their consumption. A Kantar World panel report says the sales of facial cleansing milk for men was more than 1.5 billion yuan ($234.2 million) in the first quarter of 2015, a year-on-year growth of 17 percent. It seems Chinese men are becoming increasingly interested in looking better.

What prompted this change? The once rampant claim that Chinese men are developing feminine traits is, of course, misleading. Beauty is not a word invented exclusively for women. Chinese history has many stories woven around handsome men. In fact, the four ancient handsome men are as famous as the four ancient beautiful women. Hence, the trend of the past several decades of Chinese men not attaching much importance to their appearances was abnormal compared with the long history of men conscious about their looks.