Sexuality in Contemporary Chinese Culture

It is certainly an odd experience to find among discussions of poverty, labor movement, democracy, identity, human rights, and spirituality, all serious sounding topics, a special session on the taboo subject of sexuality. It is even stranger to see sexuality included in a conference on building the civil society, an endeavor usually associated with a clearly defined public realm run by individuals for whom sexuality, except in its most negative and criminal aspects, may be one of their least concerns. Yet, it is when we think of sexuality in relation to the historical condition of contemporary Chinese culture that the conspicuous and ubiquitous presence of sexuality becomes somewhat comprehensible.