A growing number of young women in China are shelling out 50 yuan (US$7) for five-minute stress-relieving hugs from “man mums”.
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The so-called man mums are a trending group on mainland social media.
The term originally described muscular gym-goers but it now refers to men who combine physical strength with traditionally feminine traits like gentleness and patience.
A stressed-out student recently posted online that she wanted to pay for a hug from a kind, fit “man mum” to cope with thesis pressure.
“I was hugged once in secondary school and felt safe. We can just hug for five minutes at an underground station,” she wrote.
The post went viral, racking up more than 100,000 comments.