Department of Public Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Cult Health Sex. 2011 May;13(5):497-511. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2011.563866.
China has undergone massive socio-economic change over the past 30 years. In parallel, there have been huge changes in social and sexual mores. Until the end of the Mao era strict norms prevailed, with sex outside marriage widely regarded as immoral and unacceptable. Detraditionalisation theory describes the abandonment or reconfiguration of the socio-cultural traditions and has been explored widely in Western settings. This study aimed to explore its relevance for China through exploring attitudes towards premarital sex, extramarital sex, same-sex relations and sex work. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 212 men and women aged 18 to 39 in urban and rural areas of three provinces: Zhejiang, Guizhou and Yunnan. Analysis identified emerging themes. Results show varying degrees of acceptance of the four sexual behaviours, with premarital sex seen as common, homosexuality still regarded as unacceptable by the majority but considerable acceptance of commercial sex work as part of male business transactions and social life. China appears to be on a pathway of detraditionalisation with specific Chinese features. This study suggests that the concept of detraditionalisation applies well to non-Western contexts, but the path it takes is culture-specific and relatively unpredictable.
中国在过去 30 年中经历了巨大的社会经济变革。与此同时,社会和性习俗也发生了巨大变化。直到毛泽东时代结束,严格的规范仍然盛行,婚外性行为被广泛认为是不道德和不可接受的。去传统化理论描述了对社会文化传统的摒弃或重新配置,并在西方环境中得到了广泛的探索。本研究旨在通过探讨对婚前性行为、婚外性行为、同性关系和性工作的态度,探索其对中国的相关性。我们在浙江、贵州和云南三省的城乡地区对 212 名 18 至 39 岁的男性和女性进行了半结构化访谈。分析确定了新出现的主题。结果显示,对这四种性行为的接受程度不同,婚前性行为被视为普遍现象,同性恋仍然被大多数人视为不可接受,但对商业性工作作为男性商业交易和社会生活一部分的接受程度相当高。中国似乎正在走上一条具有中国特色的去传统化道路。本研究表明,去传统化的概念很好地适用于非西方背景,但它所走的道路是特定于文化的,相对不可预测的。