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This 'Boy' Band Is Genderless, And They're Breaking Down Barriers

This 'Boy' Band Is Genderless, And They're Breaking Down Barriers

This “boy band” isn’t your typical pop sensation.

All members of the group, called FFC-Acrush, are androgynous people assigned female at birth ― and they’re quickly rising to fame in China.

The band are affectionately known as Acrush and they’re made up of five members aged in their 20s or younger: Lu Keran, An Junxi, Peng Xichen, Min Junqian and Lin Fan, according to Quartz.

And although Acrush was assembled by the Chinese entertainment company Zhejiang Huati Culture Communication Co. Ltd., they have all been dressing with androgynous swag for years.

🎤🎧🎼🎹【FFC-Acrush】

A post shared by Acrush (@ffc_acrush) on

Acrush has nearly 1 million followers on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. And the group just launched official accounts on Instagram and Twitter.

Their female fans call them “husbands” ― a term usually used to describe male pop stars like Justin Bieber, according to the BBC.

Agent Zhou Xiaobai told Quartz that the group avoids using terms that identify them as “he” or “she.” Instead, they use the genderless term “meishaonian,” which translates as “handsome youth.”

The “A” in Acrush represents Adonis, the mythological Greek god of beauty and desire, according to Quartz. Zhou told the news outlet that Acrush is a “group advocating freedom, not bounded by frames.”

The band’s official Twitter account profiles each band member in typical boy band fashion. Peng is the romantic lead singer. Min is a musician at heart. An is the rebellious one. Lu is a natural-born dancer and Lin is the baby of the group at 18 years old.

The group’s parent company recruits musical talent from across China. They’re trained and then placed into various girl groups or boy bands who perform songs and play soccer on stage ― under the umbrella brand name Fantasy Football Confederation. (That’s why the band’s official name is “FFC-Acrush.”)

And while all the band members have chosen to assume an androgynous identity, company policy prohibits any member of Acrush discussing their personal sexual orientation.

Hello!We are Acrush!Glad to see you here! Thank you very much for your attention!

A post shared by Acrush (@ffc_acrush) on

Watch their debut video, which was released at the end of April, below.

H/T Quartz.

Clarification: Language has been amended to reflect that the band members identify as women but deliberately cultivate an androgynous public image.

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