Columnist's online diary opens a new chapter in sexual revolution
scmp.com
JANE CAI
In a real-life version of the popular US television show Sex and the City, a 25-year-old sex columnist with a Guangzhou magazine is pushing China's sexual revolution ahead with an online diary that chronicles the graphic details of her sex life.
Mu Zimei began publishing her online diary, called Left Love Letter, in June at blogcn.com.
She claims to sleep with a different man every two weeks and to have group sex regularly with several different men.
"I lead a satisfying life," she writes in an entry dated June 27. "I have a job that keeps me busy and in my spare time, I have a very humanistic hobby - making love. The partner I take in my hobby is one I choose and always changes. I rely on a sufficient supply pool. I do not need to take any responsibility for them; neither should I give them love. They will not be trouble for me. They are like CDs, which will not make a sound unless I play."
She also claims she has had sexual relations with 65 men, both local and foreign. They come from all walks of life, including homosexuals, journalists, professionals and even well-known local musicians.
Ms Mu said she never thought her sexual exploits would attract so much attention. They did not until, in an August entry, she divulged details of her tryst with a member of a popular Guangzhou rock band.
"I think the reason people paid so much attention to my diaries is because I revealed a private world, and people are always interested in hearing what they feel they should not," Ms Mu said.
Since June, 160,000 visitors have read the diary online - with mixed reactions. An online survey by Sina.com of 38,800 people who visited Ms Mu's website found that 18 per cent thought her behaviour shameful and 22 per cent said Ms Mu was seeking fame at any price. But 38 per cent thought Ms Mu had the right to her attitudes towards sex and 23 per cent hailed her behaviour as a demonstration of sexual freedom and a challenge to China's prudish moral standards.
But the China Youth Daily said publishing the diary and tolerating the behaviour it described was "contrary to the public interest". The Beijing Evening News, People's Daily website, Jiefang Daily and Beijing Morning Post also carried articles criticising the diary.
"Mu Zimei represents an emerging group of people who are socially irresponsible," said Zhou Xiaozheng, a sociologist from the People's University in Beijing.
But Li Yinhe, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it was interesting to see Chinese society shifting to the final stage of sexual morality "where both men and women are sexually free". |
