Reconstructing Masculinity: The Role of Hands‐On Dads in Modern Chinese Families

ABSTRACT This article examines the rise of the hands‐on dad phenomenon on contemporary Chinese short‐video platforms. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective that integrates gender studies, masculinity research, semiotics, and media studies, we analyze how hands‐on dads are constructed and how their parenting practices are performed within digital media contexts. Focusing on behavioral patterns, multidimensional meanings, and social‐structural conditions, we explore transformations in contemporary Chinese masculinity and the mechanisms through which they are socially produced. On social media, hands‐on dads appear as multifaceted paternal figures who combine economic provision with emotional caregiving, weakening traditional gendered divisions of family roles. By extending paternal responsibility beyond breadwinning to include emotional expression, relational care, and everyday involvement in childrearing, this form of fatherhood challenges conventional assumptions about gender and family life. The analysis deepens understanding of fatherhood redefinition and contributes a theoretically grounded, China‐centered perspective to scholarship on masculinity in contemporary Chinese cultural contexts.