[photopress:it_Online_titilation.jpg,full,alignright]A recent survey conducted jointly by IAC and advertising company JWT, reports on the differences between Chinese and American ‘Young Digital Mavens,’ ages 16-25.
Media coverage of the survey in both English and Chinese emphasized that Chinese netizens lead their American counterparts in living their lives in the ‘Digital Age.’ For example, 80% of Chinese respondents ranked digital technology as something they ‘must have,’ compared with only 68% of Americans.
An article on Chinanews.com commented, the obsession of Chinese youth for the Internet is not entirely a good thing: the Internet has changed young Chinese people’s sex lives.
Fully 32% of Chinese respondents say the Internet has made their sex lives ‘more abundant’ or ‘richer’ (no, there is no explanation precisely what that means), as compared with only 11% of American participants.
Understand clearly this does not represent the views of average young Chinese people. Only about 10% of China’s population is online, and netizens are overwhelmingly well-educated, urban and male.
This survey finding is seemingly as meaningless as it is unclear. The respondents’ age range — 16-25 — makes difficult any attempt to draw generalized conclusions.
16-18 year-olds in China usually live with their families and may go online at Internet cafes or at home.
18-22 year-olds of the well-educated, urban variety are likely to be in college, where they’ll probably use school computers.
23-25 year-olds are typically employed and may use their work computers to access the Internet; they’re also the most likely to own their own computers.
Difficult to know the type of ‘enrichment’ of sex life which covers these three groups.
Moreover, reports of the survey in both English and Chinese don’t clarify whether the respondents were asked whether they were ‘sexually active,’ or whether the term ‘sex life’ was defined. It may be leering at a picture of, say, Beyonce, qualifies.
Marian Salzman, JWT’s executive Vice-President said, ‘Our study confirms that the Chinese Internet is buzzing with virtual pheromones — ‘cybermones,’ if you will.’
Perhaps all we can agree is 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.’
Source: Danwei
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