Androgynous band takes on femininity

Chinese group releases its first single

Song and dance: A member of FFC-Acrush in Beijing on Friday.

China’s all-girl “boy band”, FFC-Acrush, had more than 7,49,000 followers on social networking site Weibo even before any of their music was released.

Sporting short bobs, loose T-shirts and barely there make-up, Acrush’s androgynous look is bucking centuries-old norms in a society where girls strive to look feminine and act demurely.

Reference to Adonis

Marketed by sports brand Fantasy Football Confederation (FFC), the five women — aged 18 to 24 — held their first news conference in Beijing on Friday as their first single Action was released. The letter ‘A’ in the band’s name is a reference to the god Adonis — the archetype of youthful male beauty in Greek mythology.

It’s not the first time Chinese music agents have had the idea of forming a gender-neutral act.

In 2005, a boyish-looking Li Yuchun briefly won fans with her style. She also sparked debate about how women should dress in a conservative society.

Held back by worry about a social backlash, the music industry had stayed away from marketing “handsome girl” acts until 2016.

Last year, Zhejiang Huati Culture Communication, an entertainment start-up backed by Tencent Holdings, was looking to create a girl band when the idea of an androgynous act came about.