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The ‘Western’ sexual revolution that blossomed in the 1960s and 70s was fueled by many social factors. However, one of those factors was repression, like that of the Chinese counterpart. The apex of the women’s sexual liberation movement was one of non-conformity. Yet today, sexual liberation is not about questioning the kinds of clothes you are forced to wear as it was then, but rather, buying the right kind of alluring lingerie at Victoria’s Secret. China seems to be incorporating a collusion of both: rebellious sexual activity, molded into the vision that the corporation wants. Liu Dalin, also a noted Sociologist, remarks, “The door of sex has been opened, but it is only half open.” Still, Mr. Liu is concerned with privatization and its ramifications as well, quoting in a USA Today article: “The fresh air comes in, but there will definitely be bugs that come in too.” Liu’s concerns for the growing sex industry are not unwarranted.
Lucrative capitalists, who realize what kind of profit margin they face for cosmetics, fashion and other accessories are not turning a blind eye to harmful results. Plastic surgeons in China, according to an article by the Chicago Sun, are getting ‘swamped with requests for breast enlargements, skin-whitening, limb lengthening and the creation of “double” eyelids.’ While Mao Ttse-tung’s cultural revolution banned traditional foot binding, the privatized sexual revolution may perhaps be a painful process. Indeed, many Chinese hospitals are seeing increased procedures for ‘repairing’ a woman’s hymen to give the appearance of virginity. Furthermore, thousands of stores are selling over the counter ‘at-home hymen repair kits.’ The process poses a threat to the woman’s health. Muzi Mei compares her sexual encounters to a CD: “if you want to listen, you listen. If you don’t, you turn it off.” Again, while that kind of sexual choice may be congruent to how many of us live our lives- you cannot so easily turn off the constant advertising that is driven into us. The question, then, becomes: are you willing to trade sexual freedom for the cost of corporate occupation?
The Chinese government, on the matter, seems to be a contradiction writ large. While they expel two university students for having sex, they were more than delighted to hold the ‘Miss World Beauty Pageant’ this past December. The event, televised to 2.2 billion people, is a pantheon of sex goddesses parading around displaying their ‘talent’ and sex appeal. The incentive for the Chinese government to do this? It brings in thousands of advertisers and millions in revenue. Several feminist and women’s groups protested the event. While the All China Women’s Federation did not protest the pageant, it said that it ‘opposes any activity that uses a woman’s body for commercial purposes.’ Li Li had a few words to add on this contradiction: “We have these interminable meetings, talk a lot about morality, but when it’s all over, people go home and return to their lives. Most of the propaganda guys I know have mistresses. I’ve even slept with some of them. That’s why they’re scared of morality- I know their secrets.”
The sexual revolution in China may bring great things- like hot nude models such as Tang Jiali (let your Google searches begin)- but also brings a fair amount of bondage. Xiao Ma, one of the expelled students, is certain that, “China is changing. With economic development comes social progress, so it’s natural that people’s views on sex should change.” Yet despite her optimism, social progress may foster social catastrophe vis-à-vis the events that have occurred in other societies that have ‘sexualized’. Indeed, If enthusiastic Chinese want the kind of sexual freedom they desire, it must be realized that in the ‘free market’ world that we live in, they also run the risk of importing such disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Self-mutilation. In thirty years, perhaps the phrase ‘Great Leap Forward’ will conjure up a pleasant sexual mantra along side ‘kama sutra’ and ‘sixty-nine’ as a hot sex position. Yet behind the excitement of ‘social progress’ and ‘sexcapades’ the double bind needs to be recognized and addressed before the panties hit the floor.
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Michael Newton-McLaughlin
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