Pan Suiming: Sex is a revolution
Our reporter Xu Yifan
Pan Suiming is a professor with rich "sexual experience": he once went undercover in a red light district, lived and ate with "ladies", and investigated the living conditions of sex workers; he once led The team conducted large-scale surveys on Chinese people's "premarital sex" and "multiple sexual partners"; he has been engaged in sexual sociology research for more than 30 years, and has also experienced and witnessed the 30 years of drastic changes in China's concepts of human nature and sexual behavior. .
Life Times: The anti-pornography campaign in Dongguan attracted much attention at the beginning of this year. You are an authoritative scholar on the “red light district” in China. Can you tell us about your “undercover” situation? Why study this area?
Pan Suiming: In 1998, I completed my first social inspection of the "red light district" in Dongguan, Guangdong. Afterwards, he led students to investigate 21 red-light districts across the country and nearly 1,400 girls, mommies, bosses, helpers and related figures. The main purpose of studying these is to understand their operation and various social relationships from a sociological perspective. The "red light district" is full of sex and money. Sex is not bad, and money is not bad either, but when the two things are linked together, it becomes complicated. Chinese people discuss the issue of money a lot, but there is not much discussion about the issue of sex. Why is sex so sensitive, so private, so precious, carrying so much meaning, so unborrowable? The sociology of sexuality must study these and answer these. For example, in our research, we found that people's attitude towards "young ladies" has changed a lot in the past 10 years: from scolding to sympathy, which is also a social phenomenon.
Life Times: People generally believe that "finding a mistress, having a mistress" and having sex before marriage are becoming more and more common. Is this consistent with your survey? What do you think of these phenomena?
Pan Suiming: My research found that the phenomenon of "multiple partners" among Chinese people has indeed increased significantly. The so-called polypartnership refers to a person who has had sexual relations with more than one person of the opposite sex until now. "Multiple partners" includes many possibilities such as remarriage, breakup of trial marriage, extramarital affairs, etc. "Having a mistress" and so on fall into this category, but not all of them. We cannot simply say that people's sexuality has become casual. We should say that it has become free and diversified. As long as the person concerned makes a voluntary and independent choice, it should be respected.
Life Times: Summer is here, and the topic of sexual harassment has increased again. What do you think of the increase in sexual harassment?
Pan Suiming: In fact, in the past ten years, the number of people who have actually been sexually harassed has been declining, but there are more and more people who are worried about being sexually harassed. The survey also found that in China, sexual harassment occurs most often in equal relationships (such as colleagues, classmates, acquaintances, neighbors, business relationships) rather than between superiors and subordinates as people think. Additionally, sexual harassment among people of the same gender occurs far more than people think. Nowadays, there are more reports and calls for sexual harassment in public opinion, which actually exaggerates the possibility of ordinary people being sexually harassed. This vigilance also builds a line of defense for people, which directly leads to the reduction of sexual harassment.
Life Times: You once said, “Making love is a kind of revolution.” Why did you say that?
Pan Suiming: Thirty years ago, two of my buddies and I watched "porn movies" together. Some of the scenes in them left us stunned, but now the situation has undergone revolutionary changes. Surveys show that from 2000 to 2010, although the frequency of sexual intercourse among Chinese couples has not changed significantly, the types of sexual techniques used have increased significantly. At the same time, Chinese couples are becoming more satisfied with their sex lives, especially the wives' orgasms that have increased significantly. This kind of "sexual happiness" situation is a revolutionary change. In other words, love needs to be done with heart. This is the true meaning of sexual life and a sign of the progress of Chinese sexual culture.
Life Times: Some people say that sex education in China is backward. What do you think? How do you educate your own children about sex?
Pan Suiming: China is lacking in this aspect, but it has also made great progress in the past ten years. In 1985, I was the only one offering courses on the sociology of sexuality; but by 2012, as far as I know, in addition to medicine, there were 11 teachers offering such courses in universities. There is no special education for my child, I just give him some sex books early on. My advice to everyone is to buy one or two books at home. Children are very curious and will read them quickly.