ETYMOLOGY

The phrase's evolution mirrors China's internet culture dynamics. It first gained traction in 2015 on Tianya Club (a Reddit-like forum), where a relationship advice thread described a messy divorce case as making 'men speechless and women tearful'.

The turning point came in 2018 when stand-up comedian Fu Shou'er mocked clickbait articles on the hit show U Can You Bibi: "Those toxic relationship guides like 'Does He Love You? Check His Shopping Cart' are pure 'men-speechless-women-tearful' material - men get scared into silence, women cry in frustration!" Clips of this rant spawned countless memes on Bilibili, China's YouTube equivalent.

By 2021, linguistic research revealed that 68% of Gen Z usage had shifted from genuine emotion to ironic humor. For example:"Our office requires high heels for women and buzzcuts for men - this policy is peak 'men-speechless-women-tearful'.""Gamers collectively reached 'men-speechless-women-tearful' mode after the new skin price hike."

As sociologist Dr. Wang Li notes, this semantic shift reflects how Chinese youth use humor as a "social pressure valve" to discuss sensitive topics like gender politics.