The China Daily on an interesting survey on changing attitudes toward sex in China.
*Expert: Chinese more open to sex* By Guo Qiang (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2007-07-24 17:10
Sex, a centuries-old taboo considered by most of Chinese, is creating a buzz in this conservative country. Claims that approximately 25 percent of Chinese adults had multiple sex partners in 2006 by Pan Suiming, director of Institute of Sexuality and Gender at Renmin University of China, has prompted society to open debate over whether China has become morally corrupted. Pan said having multiple sex partners is partially indicative of a sexual revolution, during an interview with Life Times on July 6.
Touching the surface of a topic the whole nation is trying to avoid, the sex scholar believes the Chinese are getting closer to an open and transparent attitude toward sex. Pan’s shocking claims were part of his survey Chinese’s sexual behaviors and relations: 2000-2006 of 6,010 Chinese aged between 18-61.
The sex survey asks about premarital sex and homosexuality, both of which are on the rise on the back of the country’s double-digit economic growth. The practice of having sex with more than one other person gained a momentum in the last few years. Its rate occurrence advanced to 25.3 percent in 2006, from 16.9 percent in 2000, a seven percent increase from the same period last year. The figure was six percent in the 1980s, a time when China launched its reform and began opening up its economy to the rest of the world.
Pan’s findings are unpopular, as many believe the sharp-rise in people having more than one sexual partner indicates the country is on the verge of falling from morality. “Loyalty to marriage is an enduring theme of society and has a deep place in people’s souls. His findings cannot change that fact,” a netizen, only identified by his nickname Xiao.Xiao. Xiao wrote on the popular qq.com.
But the expert defied public opinions, arguing the results of his survey marked a progress in people’s attitude toward sex. His findings indicate women, usually passive in sex, are becoming more active in the bedroom. “The exodus of women from rural areas to urban cities has contributed to the changes in women,” explained Pan. He added that the improvement in women’s education is helping them get rid of the conventional stereotype that women are for bearing and raising offspring for men. “The longing for of love and happiness has led to changes in women’s attitudes toward sex,” said Pan. “And easy access to abortions and birth control have also had a great impact on women.”
Of course, a sex revolution isn’t just about a variety of spiced-up sexual activities. ” A harmonious society must include sex, which is no longer a revolution but a part of our lives,” said Pan.