(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
is condoned, the Chinese government has recently in May, for the first time invoked the law
that prohibits group licentious to prosecute 22 adults who practiced group sex and spouse
swapping. One of them is a university professor, Ma Yaohai, 53 who has been sentenced to
three and a half years imprisonment. The law prohibits any sexual activity between three or
more people even when happening in a private place and between consenting adults. In her
blog, Li Yinhe (2010), a prominent Chinese sexologist and activist criticizes the law as “the
last draconian law left over from the Cultural Revolution” and calls for its abolition. Ma was
the only one who pleaded not guilty and insisted that his victimless private sex life should not
be criminalized. In earlier interviews, Ma told Chinese reporters that he joined the swinging
subculture in 2004 after meeting with a 23-year old woman from the Internet who was a
member of swingers club. In 2007, Ma started an Internet chat room in which more than 200
swingers participate (Wong, 2010).
When online netizens might perceive that they are in better control of their privacy, but in
reality their privacy is compromised because of extensive state surveillance. Like Erwin’s
(2000) study of the sex hotlines counselling service in Shanghai, online discussions of private
relationships and sexual affairs allow the state to easily monitor netizens’ discursive practice
of personal desires and fulfilments and to understand the reconfigured family and social
relations. This is often followed by intervention either legally or through counselling and reeducation,
or imposing social sanctions. The Muzimei incident in 2003 is an example of how
an initial sense of online liberation and empowerment has in the end subjected the individual
to greater state monitoring.
In June 2003, Muzimei, a journalist and magazine columnist published her sexual adventures
with multiple partners on her blog causing a sudden Internet frenzy. Her stories were viewed
by millions online and developed into a national controversy. In an interview, she once said:
"I do not oppose love, but I oppose loyalty. If love has to be based on loyalty, I will not
choose love." In contemporary Chinese society, romantic love has become the moral standard
for engaging in sexual behaviours, together with marriage and procreation, they become the
legitimate and acceptable reasons for sex (Farrer, 2002). Sex independent of love though is
not uncommon, especially among men (Pan, 2006), however the sexual double standard
rendered Muzimei an amoral figure. "If a man does this," she said, "it's no big deal, but as a
woman doing so, I draw lots of criticism." She also became a hot topic of debate in various
chat rooms and discussion forums. Some admired her as a liberated woman, others reviled
her as ‘shameless hussy’. Eventually in November, the state intervened and criticised
Muzimei’s behaviour as morally corrupting and accused Sina.com, the portal hosting her blog
as being socially irresponsible in giving her prominent featuring. In the end, Mu voluntarily
took down her blog and resigned from her job. Her book was also banned by the government
(Yardley, 2003).
Conclusion
Following the economic and social reforms in the 1980s, the government no longer openly
represses and directly intervenes in the private lives of citizens. Nevertheless, this should not
be taken as a triumph of private consumption over the state as is commonly assumed, such as
in the following account:
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