China's Age of Consent and Sex Education

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone - this seems to be fairly big news in China

The Case for Raising China’s Age of Consent

• The Bao Yuming rape case has thrust the country’s deficient protections for minors back into the spotlight.

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According to Xingxing, Bao first assaulted her shortly after she turned 14. This detail is crucial, because according to current law, minors younger than 14 are, with few exceptions, legally unable to consent to sexual activity of any kind. Because Xingxing was above this cutoff, however, investigators must show not just that the relationship happened, but that it was also nonconsensual.

According to Xingxing, she only realized she had been raped after she searched the phrase ‘causes for genital pain’ online.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

. . . and criminal responsibility. From the Sixth Tone

Child’s Sexual Assault Reignites China’s Criminal Responsibility Debate

In lieu of prosecution, four boys have been sent to a rehabilitation school for having sex with a 13-year-old girl during class.

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Xiaohua’s father, who reported the incident to police after being notified by a teacher, told the news outlet that authorities in Lantian County refused to file the case because the perpetrators were all below 14 — the minimum age of criminal responsibility in China. Two of the boys are 11, and two are 12.

 

Under China’s criminal law, children under 14 cannot bear criminal responsibility, while 14- and 15-year-olds are considered conditionally liable. Instead of being prosecuted, underage offenders often end up in rehabilitation facilities.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone on the state of sex education in China

 

What a Criminal Law Class Says About China’s Need for Sex Ed

• To understand sex crimes, students first need to know about sex. Not every teacher wants to talk about it, though.

Zhu Guangxing is an assistant professor of criminal law at China University of Political Science and Law.

 

 

 

Swiping through their comments, I was reminded of my own time as a law undergrad in the mid-2000s. It was a running joke among students back then that certain professors really knew how to “explain Article 236” — the article of China’s criminal code dealing with rape. The provision is quite simple, but you can’t talk about the legal definition of rape without explicit discussions of sex — oral sex, anal sex, digital penetration, or penetration with a foreign object could all carry different penalties, for example — so teachers must make sure students understand what each act entails.

That’s a subject not all of our teachers wanted to unravel, however. More prudish lecturers merely mentioned sex crimes in passing, suggesting students should read up on the specifics after class, while the in-depth knowledge of their bolder counterparts became the subject of titillating gossip.

Growing up in the ’90s and early ’00s, sex was always shrouded in an air of unspeakable mystery. Sex education was unheard of back then: Even biology teachers sometimes opted to skip over certain anatomical details they deemed too embarrassing. So it’s no surprise my classmates might see a class on sex crimes as an exciting and rare educational opportunity to learn about sex.

In 2014, when I went to the Netherlands to pursue my doctorate, I chose to focus my research on child sex abuse law. Whenever sex came up in academic conversations with my mentors and colleagues, their discussions were natural and uninhibited. It was certainly a contrast to what I was used to, but I adapted.

Returning to China to take up a position as a university teacher, I found myself experiencing a form of reverse cultural shock. Shortly after starting, I was speaking with one of my new male colleagues on the phone when the subject of my Ph.D. research came up. After explaining I’d focused on age of consent law, he was skeptical: “What’s there to research about that?”

I tried telling him about how sexual behaviors have been regulated in some Western countries. Austria used to ban anal sex, for example. After it was legalized, there was a period of time when it required a higher age of consent than penile-vaginal intercourse, although that is no longer the case.

He cut me off before I could finish. “Ms. Zhu, it’s not very appropriate to talk about that here. Let’s change the subject.” At first I wondered what I did wrong, but then I realized he was just embarrassed at hearing a woman candidly discuss sex.

 

 

 

 

[Randy W]

There's always THIS

from the Sixth Tone

Wiped Out: The Young Chinese Men Trying to Quit Masturbation

• Online, young men find convincing, if not necessarily scientific, explanations for the problems of puberty.

 

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“After 11 years of jacking off, I’ve finally quit.”

“I started (masturbating) in the eighth grade, in middle school. Now I’m in my sophomore year of college. I do it at least once a day and get headaches every day. I’ve wanted to quit many times, but it’s never lasted for more than a week. Now I’m trying to quit and asking for encouragement.”

If these messages sound like they were taken from “NoFap,” the online community-slash-message board where users swap stories and trade tips on their struggles against masturbation and porn addiction, you’re almost right. Cut off from sites like Reddit, Chinese netizens have built their own version of the NoFap movement centered on a Baidu forum: Jiese Ba, or “Abstinence Bar.” There, its 6 million members are passionately re-stigmatizing masturbation or, as they put it: “quitting porn and masturbation and retrieving healthy, positive energy.”

Edited January 23, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Stripping the Power from Male Desire
Photographer Li Yushi wanted to show men what it felt like to be treated as a sexual object. So she started asking her Tinder matches to pose nude for the camera.

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“Many sexy photos of women I saw show them with food, and women are often described as beautiful and delicious,” Li tells Sixth Tone. “I wanted to make a work that put men in that role.”

So the student went on Tinder to search for willing participants. Out of 300 requests she sent, 15 men agreed to be photographed. She then visited each of them at their homes, shooting them as they cooked and ate in their kitchens.

Unlike the stereotypical images favored by adult magazines featuring women posing provocatively, Li’s series of portraits — which she titled “My Tinder Boys” — are intimate, the young men in her lens alluring, but also vulnerable.

 

 

[Randy W]

from CGTN on Facebook
A type of unconventional marriage in E China stirs heated debate

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A new type of marriage dubbed "liang tou hun," or "two-sides marriage," has stirred a heated debate in China.

It is an arrangement in which the husband and wife opt to stay with their original families after marriage to carry on each side's surnames and continue their family lines. The two sides involve two families. To continue each side's family names, the couple usually have two kids, with one adopting the father's surname and raised mainly by his family and the other going to the mother's side.

For more: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-01-22/A-type-of-unconventional-marriage-in-E-China-stirs-heated-debate-XeyqigVpO8/index.html

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/565225540184937/posts/5674087505965356/

[Randy W]

On 1/23/2021 at 4:10 PM, Randy W said:

Stripping the Power from Male Desire
Photographer Li Yushi wanted to show men what it felt like to be treated as a sexual object. So she started asking her Tinder matches to pose nude for the camera.

 

 

Another promo on Facebook for the same article

https://www.facebook.com/sixthtone/photos/a.1604152706570250/2866151153703726/

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone

On a Guizhou Mountainside, a Lesson in the Limits of Sex Ed

• The author traveled to the province with visions of helping lead a rural “Spring Awakening.” Once there, she found herself competing with a far more compelling teacher: Douyin.

A lecture run by the Stand By Her group at a middle school in Congjiang County, Guizhou province, Oct. 26, 2020. Courtesy of Lei Di

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We suggested they call us “sister,” rather than the more distant title of “teacher.” We also encouraged them to speak up at any time during the lecture. During the first half, they asked the usual questions: “What makes my periods irregular?” “What happens if I get headaches while exercising?” “What if I start growing a moustache?” Quietly, I was pleased at hearing these routine questions. I figured I would be able to get through this without a hitch.

The atmosphere seemed to change during the second half, however. Perhaps it was because we had earned their trust, but they started asking us questions we felt less prepared to answer: “Sister, how do I get skin as light as yours?” or “How can I lose weight and become as skinny as you?” Some even asked for recommendations on weight-loss pills or the best way to take height-enhancing drugs without winding up like their friends, who had vomited blood from the medication they were on.

 . . .

I was stunned. First, that any place in China still considered eggs a luxury; then, that children who lacked even basic food or educational resources could somehow be so immersed in commercially defined beauty standards. These village girls might live on an isolated mountainside, but they can see the whole world through the lens of the internet, particularly short-video platforms like Douyin, the mainland of China version of TikTok. The reach of online companies has penetrated into China’s third- and fourth-tier cities faster than fundamental public services like schooling. In the process, they’ve invited these girls into seductive, dazzling worlds far from their own.

Their idea of the “perfect look” is no longer based on local traditions or standards, but on a combination of what they see through their 5-inch screens and their imaginations. When they apply these standards to themselves, however, it exposes all of their flaws: They aren’t tall enough, white enough, thin enough, and their legs aren’t slender enough. Unsurprisingly, they start seeing these flaws as a hindrance to the life they want.

Though at a loss, I struggled to stay calm as I explained why they shouldn’t lose weight during puberty or whiten their skin, as well as shared some healthy ways to grow taller. I tried to be more emphatic by mixing in certain values, like “all girls are beautiful” and “you have to love yourself.”

 

 

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone 

In Rural China, a Marriage, a Tearful Bride, and a Debate Over Consent
The marriage between a young woman with a severe intellectual disability and a man 35 years her senior has sparked a controversy over a common practice in rural China.

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In early March, a short video had shocked the country. It showed a 20-year-old woman with a severe intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) marrying a man 35 years her senior. The bride is seen sitting on a bed, sobbing loudly as the groom wipes away her tears with tissues. The camera pans then to the bride’s mother, who is seen grinning widely, as an unidentified man says in the background, “Don’t cry. You’re about to get married. Don’t cry.”

The video raised questions about consent — the bride, surnamed Yao, is barely able to walk or communicate — and about the vagaries of China’s legal system when it comes to marriage and mental disabilities.

In response, local officials clarified that the wedding ceremony — which carries no legal significance — was not against the law. But, because Yao’s IDD rendered her unable to provide consent, they could not apply for a marriage license that would make them husband and wife in the eyes of the government. Current laws, however, allow them to live together and, should they later have children, the couple can apply for birth permits and the mandatory household registration, or hukou.

 

 

[Randy W]

Confronting China’s Child Sex Abuse Crisis: The Story of Sisi
A survivor of multiple rapes, Sisi’s horrific abuse shocked China and presaged a wave of reforms to protect minors. But her own trauma has yet to fade.

from the Sixth Tone

Sisi takes a stroll with her baby girl at a park in Beijing, June 7, 2016. Han Meng/Sixth Tone

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Her hair is cropped short, her figure concealed by a baggy shirt and jeans. On her feet are a pair of men’s leather loafers. The outfit helps her avoid unwanted attention from men, she says.

“I feel much safer this way,” Sisi tells Sixth Tone.

The comment is a sobering reminder of the trauma the young woman has experienced.

Sisi, a pseudonym, is arguably the biggest reason China was forced to confront the prevalence of sexual abuse against minors. A survivor of multiple rapes, her case focused public attention on an issue that had previously been a taboo subject in Chinese society.

 . . .

Sisi first came into the public spotlight in 2012. Then just 11 years old, she had become pregnant following repeated sexual assaults. The perpetrator — a 74-year-old man who lived in the same village as Sisi’s family in central China’s Hunan province — was sentenced to 12 years in prison in April 2013, a month before Sisi gave birth to her first child.

 

 

[Randy W]

Battle of the Sexes in China

“Boys also have dreams. They want to be athletes and gamers, but when they reach 18, their dreams turn into buying a house and a car."

A female rapper’s comments at a music festival set off a fierce online discussion.

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/1570821646570023/posts/2942764062709101/

For China’s Celebrities, Gender Debates Are Full of Pitfalls
A rapper’s quip about gender equality has set Chinese social media atwitter.

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However well-intentioned Nineone’s remarks, many online felt that the rapper, who rose to fame through reality TV shows “Youth With You” and “Rap of China,” was siding with men when women are the obvious victims of gender inequality in Chinese society.

“What she said isn’t wrong, but isn’t our society already very charitable toward men?” wrote one Weibo user in an upvoted comment. “Why does it sound like she believes women are responsible for ruining men’s dreams?” said another.