Just when I thought I was getting used to China and its two-faced morality, it was known today that a court has sentenced a university professor to more than three years in jail for organising “group sex” activities”. When I read the story, I mentally cheered for him, not for the sex but for the simple reason that even though he admitted participating in those activities, he defended himself saying that all of them were adults , knew exactly what they were doing and did so willingly. His reasoning makes perfect sense to me. There were no drugs, no minors, no harm done, no crime. Just sex. He is a university teacher, yes, but from the moment he leaves his post, he is still an adult individual with the right to do whatever he wants with his body or have sex with whomever he wants. Since when whatever happens in people´s homes is court material? After all the gang crime, corruption and random murder cases that have been uncovered in the last few months, how ironic is it that they accuse this teacher of “disrupting public order”?
Another irony is that while they´re talking about “lascivious activities” involving a regular citizen, somebody has the great idea of organising a Miss Bikini international contest in Sanya. Of course, the contestants were not naked, but they didn’t even need to be. It might be a beauty contest (which by the way only adds to the stereotype of women as perfect objects to be stared at and reinforces the insecurity many of us secretly feel when we´re reminded that we´re anything but), but the whole thing also screams “sex” in a voice so clear that it´s difficult to miss. Yet, nobody talks about indecency, even when the scantily-clad superwomen pose in front of the cameras for all the world to see. I don´t really care how much skin are they revealing or if they´re showing everything up until the last freckle. What gets on my nerves is the double standard.
While the idea of the beauty contest made me frown, the setting they chose for the photoshoot just made me snort. Think for a moment. Where would you put 64 women in bright-red bikinis and ever-uncomfortable high heels? Why, in the Simatai section of the Great Wall, of course! The image of me and my friend virtually climbing the steps of that section and sweating like pigs in the middle of August quickly transformed into one where these ladies were doing the same in their appealing attire, trying to keep their balance and make the minuscule bikinis stay where they should. I managed to keep the laughter at bay in the middle of the office, but that was nothing short of a miracle.
