This essay addresses a catchphrase 'being both cool and cute' (ke yan ke tian) that seamlessly blends contrasting traits and personalities, evoking a modern gendered subjectivity that celebrates versatility and seemingly transcends traditional gender binaries.
Credit: Sweet and Salty on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sweetandsalty.my
Xintong Jia is a feminist media and cultural studies researcher.
Xintong.jia@essex.ac.uk
The phrase ke yan ke tian (可盐可甜) is an adjective originally used by fans to describe their idols who can seamlessly switch between different styles. In Chinese, it literally translates to ‘being able to be both salty and sweet’, signifying being both cool and cute. The two characters, “盐” (yan) and “甜” (tian), which typically describe tastes, are used metaphorically to represent personalities. Yan indicates that someone can showcase a cool, aloof, and dominating side, while tian refers to a cute and adorable nature. The phrase reflects the multifaceted characteristics of a person, showing that they are not confined to just one image but appeal to a variety tastes and preferences.
Since 2016, Ke yan ke tian has emerged as a catchword on Chinese social media. By blending two seemingly contradictory dispositions in one person, the phrase effects a hallucination of one’s personality and sexuality. This idea has manifested in variegated articulation, such as “可萌可酷”, “可狼可奶”, “可纯可欲”. Each phrase combines two contrasting characteristics – being both cute and cool, fierce and gentle, innocent and sexually alluring. The structure of these phrases resembles alliteration, featuring a repetitive and symmetrical arrangement. Alliteration adds rhythm and musicality in language, making phrases more memorable and engaging. In ke yan ke tian, alliteration not only accentuates specific qualities by mobilizing the sense of taste, but also enriches its aesthetic charm. In addition to the literary device embedded in the phrase, there is often a synergy between contrasting personalities and the meanings associated with colours. The name of a South Korean K-pop girl group, Blackpink reflects this duality. It represents two opposing elements of their musical persona: the ‘black’ side portrays their bold, girl-crush image, while the ‘pink’ conveys a feminine and vibrant side.
As a gender-neutral phrase derived from fandom, ke yan ke tian has been used to praise both young women and men. The discourse works to create a contemporary hermaphrodite subject, embodying contrasting traits that were conservatively associated with the gender binary. In Greek mythology, the figure associated with the concept of the hermaphrodite is Hermaphroditus, who was originally born male but later became an androgynous being. The myth surrounding Hermaphroditus involves a water nymph named Salmacis. According to the story, Salmacis became infatuated with Hermaphroditus and tried to seduce him, but he resisted. When Hermaphroditus entered her pool to bathe, Salmacis clung to him and prayed to the gods that they would never be separated. The gods granted her wish, merging their bodies into one form that was both female and male. This story gave rise to the term hermaphrodite, which refers to individuals with both male and female characteristics. Hermaphrodite challenges the concept of gender binary that is strictly based on biological sex.
Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage (2015) provides the following definition of ‘gender’.
Gender, a grammatical term only. To talk of persons or creatures of the masculine or feminine gender, meaning of the male or female sex, is either a jocularity (permissible or not according to context) or a blunder.
The story of Hermaphroditus suggests the fluidity of gender – it is not necessarily tied to specific bodies and can manifest within a single body. Originally, gender has been used to challenge the biological determinism implied by the term ‘sex’ and to redefine the social construction of distinctions based on biological difference. It also pertains to the social organization of relationships between the sexes, meaning that women and men are defined in relation to one another, and a complete understanding of either cannot be achieved through separate study (Scott, 1986). It is more about gendered relationships than merely the meanings attached to women or men. There is no doubt that the term ‘gender’ encompasses numerous unexamined possibilities across various social contexts and has the potential to be reflected in contemporary cultural phenomena and catchphrases.
‘Iron girls’ (铁姑娘) represent a typical androgynous subject in socialist China. During the socialist era (from the 1950s to the 1970s), the Chinese Communist Party sought to redefine female subjectivity as part of the broader socialist transformation. The ‘iron girl’ was promoted as an icon of female emancipation and socialist modernity, driven by state-sponsored feminism. ‘Iron girls’ illustrate a proletarian-based female figure, symbolizing the masculinization of the female body. She is characterized by a sturdy posture, bronze skin tone, and the ability to perform agricultural and heavy machinery work. ‘Iron girls’ serve as a metaphor for the socialist androgynous subject, illustrating a reformed female body. By engaging in traditionally male-dominated, physically demanding work, women were encouraged to participate in socialist construction. The construction of ‘iron girls’ follows the same logic as socialist state feminism. Both are one-dimensional – women are masculinized as a symbol of overcoming the yoke of feudalism, while men are not called upon to perform femininity. Women’s entitlement to gender equality is granted through top-down policies of socialist state feminism, rather than being attained through grassroots activism. It is the state, not the women, that liberates women.
Women are often invoked in situations where the majority of the population is expected to contribute to the workforce. ‘Rosie the Riveter’ was an iconic figure in America, embodying women employed in factories and shipyards during World War II. The term and image gained popularity in the 1940s, especially through the famous “We Can Do It!” poster. This wartime propaganda poster depicts a strong woman in a blue work shirt with her sleeves rolled up, flexing her arm, and it later became an emblem of second-wave feminism and women’s empowerment in the 1970s. ‘Rosie the Riveter’ symbolizes women’s contributions to both the war effort and the workforce. As women were encouraged to fill wartime positions in defense industries, they emerged as a symbol of female patriotism, reflecting a departure from traditional gender roles due to wartime necessity.
The androgynous subject exemplified by ‘iron girls’ in socialist China and ‘Rosie the Riveter’ in wartime America is a female construct. Women embody a masculinized body as a sign of reform and liberation. While it emerged within the discourse of women emancipation, its primary purpose was driven by the development of factories and industries, as well as the demand for productive forces, not the pursuit of gender equality. While it carries liberating potential, it is a product of gendered politics.
As Lisa Rofel (2007) states, the production of desire is central to the reshaping of subjectivity in China’s neoliberal transformation since the 1980s. Neoliberalism is not merely a political and economic regime that governs individuals to fulfil its interests. Rather, it encompasses “the messy dynamics of attachment, self-continuity, and the reproduction of life that are the material scenes of living on in the present” (Berlant, 2011: 15). The phrase being both cool and cute delineates a novel subjectivity by highlighting the expression of individuality, in contrast to the collective sensibilities embodied by ‘iron girls’ in the milieu of socialism. In the context of neoliberal China, this catchphrase cheerfully responds to the call of a market-oriented economy and privatization for individual subjectivity.
The popularity of being both cool and cute partially stems from its association with hermaphroditism and gender fluidity. A person is not narrowly defined by a single trait but features in multiple and contradictory qualities. It stresses complex personalities rather than a passive, demure, or coy image. Like many catchphrases, this succinct expression carries both entertainment value and intriguing appeal. It also involves participatory culture, branding and advertising techniques, while adapting to the quest for economic visibility and communicability on media platforms; in turn, this reinforces its popularity within digital media culture.
Nevertheless, the phrase has been disproportionately applied to female groups rather than to men. When searching for trends related to being cool and cute on Weibo and Xiaohongshu (also known as RED, a social media and e-commence platform), the top results primarily highlight posts about young female celebrities, along with classifications and self-assessment of female types, including the ‘sweet’, ‘salty’, ‘spicy’, and ‘bitter’ types. These posts are part of the online discourse on female empowerment and success, offering guidelines to women on how to project idealized femininity. The phrase has also been used as a branding strategy and promotion technique in TV dating shows. Describing someone as being both cool and cute functions as a compliment, an expectation, and of course, a discipline.
New Matchmaking Conference (新相亲大会) produced by Jiangsu Satellite TV is a reality dating show that features heterosexual matchmaking in a family-centred format. Dating candidates are not allowed to meet in person until the final selection stage, while their parents or close relatives are invited to the set to comment on and evaluate potential matches. A female contestant’s cousin used the phrase to portray an omnipotent young woman figure when recommending her. She described the contestant as capable of managing public affairs and household duties (上得厅堂，下得厨房), while also being cool, cute, and romantic (可盐可甜可浪漫) – possessing all the qualities that men find appealing. TV dating game shows reflect the mechanism of commodifying individuals as eligible partners. In this context, being both cool and cute is a media-friendly buzzword that encapsulates the gendered and sexual scripts of versatility and attractiveness. It functions as a tagline for self-branding on TV dating shows. The incorporation of technologies of subjectification and the constitution of desire to cultivate a distinctive personality, as reflected in the phrase, illustrates the aspirations for the idealized subject in contemporary China.
Berlant, L. (2011) Cruel Optimism. Durham and London: Duke University Press.
Butterfield, J. (2015) (ed) Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage. 4 ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rofel, L. (2007) Desiring China: Experiments in Neoliberalism, Sexuality, and Public Culture. Durham and London: Duke University Press.
Scott, J. W. (1986) Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis. The American Historical Review. 91(5): 1053-1075.