In China, men are losing confidence and blaming women for it

A viral 'gold-digger' game and online misogyny reveal a deeper crisis of masculinity in China — one rooted not in feminism, but in decades of demographic and social change.

- Yew Lun Tian

When a Chinese developer released a video game in June focused on "defeating" women cast as gold-diggers who prey on lovestruck men, it became an overnight sensation, racking up a million sales in just 10 days.

To some, the game was harmless revenge fantasy - a tongue-in-cheek guide against romance scams and a digital support group for men floundering in the search for love.

To others, it exposed something darker: a simmering resentment among men unsettled by women's growing confidence and their willingness to opt out of relationships altogether.

The episode revealed a dangerous undercurrent in China's escalating gender wars, where misogyny and insecurity intertwine.

From bound feet and concubine quarters, to boardrooms and university podiums, Chinese women have come a long way.

But their revolution remains unfinished. As women assert themselves, they must confront a backlash from men uneasy with the shifting balance of power and identity.

Even as these tensions play out online, Beijing projects a different image to the world.

At the Global Women's Summit on Oct 13, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged US$10 million (S$13 million) to UN Women and urged countries to advance gender equality together, casting China as both advocate and exemplar.

That narrative contains some truth. The Communist Party made gender equality a cornerstone of its new socialist order when it took power in 1949.

This principle was enshrined in the country's Constitution, which declared that women enjoy equal rights with men in all spheres of life.

The 1950 Marriage Law outlawed forced marriage and concubinage, granted women the right to divorce, and recognised their right to own and inherit property, a revolutionary step that dismantled some of the more oppressive practices of patriarchy.