China's Youth Sex Craze to Loosen Country's Strict Obscenity Laws?
In 2007, Ang Lee's movie 'Lust, Caution' was released, even as it cut out seven minutes of its "infamous" sex scenes, as they were said to have violated China's obscenity laws. However, dissatisfied with the move, the Chinese downloaded the original from pirated sites. The headlines warned that computer viruses were in many of the sites. Those who lived in southern China even crossed the border and entered Hong Kong so that they could see the full-fat version.
It was clear that the people had spoken and wanted sex, according to theguardian. A recent one-minute video clip shows a young man and woman exchanging sexual intercourse in the changing rooms of Uniqlo in Beijing's shopping and nightlife hub Sanlitun. It's got millions of views already.
While the Chinese government has issued a statement condemning the video as well as China's top internet firms, censors are also trying to quickly remove the video.
One thing is clear in the videos---a sexual revolution has taken place in China over the past few decades, not showing any signs of calming down. Chinese surveys show that premarital sex is increasing, while the latest official statistics from 2012 show that 70% of the population is engaged in premarital sex---a rate that is rising steadily.
In a 2015 survey carried out by Shanghai Normal University, they discovered that 40% of 14 to 35-year-olds are not too comfortable with premarital sex, which still leaves most of the population which is fine with it.
While Sanlitun, where the video is shot, shows that a lot of the youth is game for sex, there is also the seedier side of the video, which shows sex stores, hair salons, massage parlours, drug dealers and good trade. However, the government hopes to hide the facts.
If these are banned, they simply go underground, as is evident from sex shops and brothels that reopen or move underground, as is evident in Dongguan, China's sin city.
Interestingly, China's internet is driving the sexual revolution.