中文“偽娘”源自于日文“Nisemusume”一詞，指的是長相清秀、穿著女性化的男子，常見于日本動漫中。

The word "weiniang" or "pseudo-girl" has entered Chinese from the Japanese word "Nisemusume," and refers to handsome boys who have a female appearance through their fashion style. The Japanese word is popularly used in comics and dramas.

但是，這些男子并非同性戀。

But the boys are not necessarily homosexuals.

這些女性裝著的男子往往模糊了男女之間的界限，由此在國內引發了一番激烈的爭論。

The "he" that dresses like a "she" and constantly blurs the lines of division between male and female has ignited a fierce debate in China.

一位來自四川省、名叫劉著的19歲男孩參加“快樂男生”之后一夜成名。“快樂男生”是個類似于“美國偶像”的選秀節目，只不過專門面向男性參賽選手展開；劉著迅速走紅，不是因為他音色出眾，而是得益于他那吸引眼球的女性著裝（即“異裝”）。

Liu Zhu, 19, from Sichuan Province, has risen to stardom overnight since he participated in "Happy Boys," China's all-male talent show equivalent to "American Idol," but he wasn't there for his vocal ability, but instead his cross-dressing performance in the competition.

海選試音時，劉著從著裝、舉止到言談都酷似女生，以至于評委都對他的性別幾度表示質疑。在那之后，他被當地媒體和網民冠以“偽娘”稱號。

Auditioning for the show, Liu dressed, acted and spoke so femininely that the judges questioned his gender several times. Local media and netizens have hence nicknamed Liu a "nisemusume" or "pseudo girl."

在全球最大中文搜索引擎“百度”上，“劉著”這個名字的搜索量已超過1900萬次，他的博客點擊量也達到300萬次。

His name returns more than 19 million hits on the leading Chinese search engine Baidu, while his blog has received 3 million hits.

在此之前的另一場選秀表演中，一個被稱為“童童”的男孩（真名叫許龍）也因其女性裝扮而一舉成名。

In a previous talent show this year, Xu Long, a boy known as "Tongtong," also became famous because of his cross-dressing.

因為他們的出現，也因為他們帶來的轟動效應，中文里誕生了這樣一個專門術語——“偽娘”。

Thanks to them and the sensation they have created, there is a buzzword in China: "weiniang" or "pseudo-girl."

(China.org.cn November 28, 2010)