Sexuality in China
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Sexuality in China has undergone dramatic changes throughout time. These changes can be categorized as "
As can be seen by these developments, China no longer exerts strict control over personal sexual behavior.
Change in the field of
Contemporary history
Since the early 1980s sex and sexuality have become prominent themes of public debate in China, after three decades of Maoist rule during which discourses on sexuality were subject to stringent ideological controls.[4]
Market reform and opening-up policy
The denial of the ideals of the Cultural Revolution, during which sex was used as a political tool to control people, is an influential factor in making changes in Chinese society.[3] During the Cultural Revolution, individual sexual preferences were supposed to give way to lofty revolutionary ideals. Extramarital affairs were portrayed as a degenerate lifestyle, and consensual pre-marital sex was immoral. Homosexuality was illegal and would be punished under the statutes for hooliganism. A person had to be sexually well-behaved in order to get a promotion or advance in his or her career.[5]
Reforms in the area of sexuality show a lessening amount of government control over individuals' private life. Many sex-related issues and personal lifestyles are no longer relegated to the field of politics and thus exempt from severe legal punishment or moral condemnation. Sex has been returned to the personal sphere under the domain of self-management. These changes can be seen in the weakened interference and control of the government in sex-related areas, strengthened sexual resources in the open market, a diversity of sexual lifestyles, and a strong appeal for sexual rights as human rights.
For instance, the government's control of personal lives has gradually retreated since the passing of the new marriage registration principles in October 2003, which again simplified the processes of marriage and divorce. The committed parties no longer need certification or confirmation from their place of work or the local Resident Committee to get married or divorced. The pre-marital physical, which among other things once contained an indication of the woman's virginity, is no longer obligatory. The new principles reflect a greater respect for human rights, a protection of marital freedom, and a change in the governmental function with regards to sexual issues.
At the same time, some major social policies have also played an important part. For example, the side effect of the family planning policy is to promote a separation of sexual behavior from reproductive purposes. If a couple can give birth to one child only, sexual behavior is no longer solely practiced to produce babies but also for pleasure. Changes in the legal code have reflected this while also publicly acknowledging sex as a pursuit of happiness.
Stable economic development and consumerism
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2009) |
Under recent policies, the social economy has seen stable and
![]() | This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Lacks flow. The wording implies an opinion is being expressed e.g. perhaps, may well. (May 2020) |
Various
The pursuit of
Growth of the middle class
One very important factor driving the social change in contemporary China is the great changes in and reorganization of social stratification.
Based on observations, all the visible changes in sexual discourse — including those in
The rise and growth of this middle class has the potential to produce various sexual emancipation discourses, including homosexuality, to break the silence in Chinese society.
Globalization
Since China adopted the policies of opening up and market reform, globalization has meant that there have been many people traveling across countries and from one region to another in China. It means information sharing, product sharing, capital flow, and value sharing, which increasingly includes some basic understanding of sexual rights,
Popularization of higher education
Popularization of
The impact of higher education has been significant. The younger generation may adopt a different sexual ideology from the older generation because they have more opportunities to get exposure to humanities and
Feminist discourse in China
The Fourth UN Conference on Women was held in Beijing in 1995.[12] The government sponsored the conference and then signed the UN documents pledging gender equality, and official women's organizations and feminist activists and scholars have been fighting against gender discrimination and working on achieving gender equality. Their struggle has permeated many aspects of the people's social lives.[failed verification][13]
Mainstream
The role of feminist discourse in the field of sexuality has been to redefine a woman's sex role. It criticized the double standards of sex between women and men, which included traditionally held norms such as that men should be aggressive and active, women passive and inactive; that men should have stronger sexual desires and women weaker; that men should be sexually experienced before marriage but women retain their virginity; that women should not ask too much for sex and should consider men's satisfaction as their own. The critical feminist discourse is also rewriting the gender views in Chinese society. Some feminist scholars have started to emphasize women's sexual rights and the diversity of sexuality among Chinese women. Thus China's sexual revolution is also women's sexual revolution, as evidenced by these trends.[13]
While women in previous generations were expected to marry in their twenties, many highly educated women are deciding to hold off on marriage into their 30s or longer. Their increased economic power has given them autonomy so they don't need to rely on a spouse. But the Chinese media has still given them a derogatory name, shengnu (剩女) or "leftover women".[14]
In 2005, China added new provisions to the Law on Women's Right Protection to include sexual harassment.[15] In 2006 "The Shanghai Supplement" was drafted to help further define sexual harassment in China.[16]
Role of the media and the Internet
The
The Internet has also been a great proponent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) identity in China. Since the late 1990s, members of the LGBT community have used the Internet to access and share information, form relationships, and cultivate queer identities and communities. However, despite the seemingly unconstrained development of the LGBT community in the global cyberspace, there are constraints. Some constraints are informed by socio-economic factors. There are some gay, lesbian and queer people who cannot afford a computer and access to the Internet at home and therefore are obliged to use Internet cafes, where they may be compelled to avoid certain websites for fear of being monitored by other people. Some constraints are politically informed. Gay and lesbian-oriented websites tend to be short-lived due to Internet regulations and controls of the government. Furthermore, despite an online proliferation of the LGBT identity, the community remains subordinate to China's hegemonic discourse on sexuality. Rarely do traditional Chinese media outlets recognise LGBT identity, let alone embrace and validate the community.[18]
Sexual revolution
In
Government interventions
The "Group Licentiousness" law
The
Opposition to the Love Land theme park in Chongqing
The proposed
AIDS and sexuality
The importance of
Sexuality, including homosexuality, has started to enter the public forum. The whole process is still ongoing, but it is breaking the silence on sexuality taboos.
See also
- transgender in China
- Prostitution in China
- HIV/AIDS in China
- Feminism in China
- Love Land (China)
- Taoist sexual practices
- Back-up partner
- Pornography in China
Further reading
- Evans Harriet (1997) Women and Sexuality in China: Dominant Discourses of Female Sexuality and Gender Since 1949. ISBN 0-7456-1398-5
- Elaine Jeffreys (editor) (2006) Sex and Sexuality in China. ISBN 0-415-40143-7
References
- ^ a b c d The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality: China, Demographics and a Historical Perspective Archived 2012-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Leiwen, Jiang. Has China Completed Demographic Transition? Archived 2008-02-27 at the Wayback Machine, Institute of Population Research, Peking University.
- ^ a b c Barboza, David (March 4, 2007). A people's sexual revolution in China. Internal Herald Tribune
- ISBN 978-0-7456-5613-7.
- ^ a b The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality: China, Homoerotic, Homosexual, and Ambisexual Behaviors Archived 2012-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
- S2CID 220739342.
- S2CID 144698854.
- JSTOR 23462228.
- S2CID 140530345.
- ISBN 0-415-40143-7
- ^ a b c The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality: China, Research and Advanced Education Archived 2012-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, China – September 1995, Action for Equality, Development and Peace.
- ^ a b c The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality: China, Basic Sexological Premises Archived 2012-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "China's Successful Ladies See Shrinking Pool of Mr. Right". Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ "China to outlaw sexual harassment". BBC News. 27 June 2005. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
- ^ Li, Cao; South, Mark (27 October 2006). "Draft bill details sexual harassment". China Daily. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
- ISBN 9780745656137.
- ISBN 9780745656137.
- ^ ISBN 0-226-23871-7
- S2CID 154501423.
- ^ a b Zhen, Liu (May 21, 2010). "Jailed professor says orgies disturbed no one". Reuters. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
- ^ Taggart, Alex (12 April 2010). "Li Yinhe: In Defence of Professor Ma Xiaohai". ChinaGeeks. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ^ "Chongqing "Sex Park" (Love Land) Dismantled for being Vulgar and Explicit". Chinahush.com. 17 May 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- The Huffington Post. 18 June 2009.
- ^ "China builds first sex theme park". BBC News. May 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
- ^ McLaughlin, Kathleen E. (20 May 2009). "China sex park: "Love Land" is no Disneyland". GlobalPost. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ChannelNewsAsia. May 18, 2009. Archived from the originalon January 19, 2013. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ^ "Chinese Sex Theme Park Knocked Down After Photos Released". Fox News. 2009-05-18.
- New York Times. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
- ^ a b c The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality: China, HIV/AIDS Archived 2012-05-27 at the Wayback Machine
- S2CID 146296136.