Shanghai Company Launches Textbook to Make Chinese Boys More Manly

In an apparent effort to keep the Chinese male students more masculine, a Shanghai-based publishing company has released a textbook especially designed for primary school boys in China.

According to China Daily (via Shanghaist), the book called Xiaoxiao Nanzihan or “Little Man” was recently launched to help change “the tendency of male students to lack masculinity, and be outperformed and overshadowed by girls at primary and secondary schools.”

Xiaoxiao, which is geared toward fourth and fifth graders, is made up of six chapters which contain drawings that are meant to “cultivate masculinity.”Parts of the book also go to great lengths explaining the difference between genders, giving its readers ample explanation as to why they are born male in the first place.

Other chapters of the book tackle important life questions during critical formative years, such as: “What does a father mean to a son?”; “How can we get along with nature?”; and “Why do we need to have awareness about investment and money management?”

Shanghai’s Jing’an district education department official Zhong Xiangyang explained that the book has received “mainly positive comments from counterparts, school heads and parents,” claiming that “many schools have shown interest in the book.”

Shanghai Educational Publishing House also confirmed an upcoming equivalent textbook for girls. If the first one is any indication of its possible contents, it might end up dictating how women should step back and let male students outperform them.