Strange

China's young netizens enjoy "richer" cybersex

by cynthia yoo | December 7, 2007 at 10:03 am

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From a recent survey conducted by two American companies (IAC and JWT) that compares Chinese and American netizens, the Chinese media outlet, Chinanews.com picked up on the survey's findings on the influence of the net on the sex lives China's "Young Digital Mavens."

Not only do 80% of Chinese aged 16 to 25 rank digital technology as something they "must have," a good 32% of those surveyed also say that the Internet has made their sex lives "more abundant."

"Our study confirms that the Chinese Internet is buzzing with virtual pheromones — 'cybermones,' if you will," says Marian Salzman, JWT's executive Vice-President.

Barry Diller (of IAC) seems to set his sights higher, however: "Digital technology could be to China what the Sixties were to the West — a huge shift in mood and attitudes. The big difference is that these changes in people's emotional and sexual lives are happening in the privacy of cyberspace."

Interestingly, there does seem to be agreement that sexual attitudes in China are shifting. Professor Pan Suiming of Renmin University, for example, recently published a sociological study comparing changes in the sexual activities and relations of Chinese people over the past six years. The study wasn't limited to youth or to netizens. Professor Pan nonetheless found evidence of "sexual revolution" across Chinese society — including among the 90% of China's population that isn't online. Professor Pan attributes this sea-change, not to the privacy of cyberspace, but to "the separation of sex and reproduction caused by the family planning policy."

Professor Pan also charted changes in the sex lives of young people specifically, but he notes that "the biggest change is that the single child [of the 1980s] is unlikely to have many children . . . The separation of sex and reproduction has become their essence." Professor Pan's findings suggest that the Internet is not so much the cause of a "shift in attitudes" about sex among Chinese "Young Digital Mavens," but rather a place where those attitudes find expression.