Sex, Science and Morality in China [Paperback]

After decades of near silence on the matter, sex is being talked about in China. But what is being said? Who is allowed to speak? And whose purposes are being served?

This ground-breaking book takes a critical look at how sex in China is thought and talked about. Drawing on the work of the countrys foremost sex experts, and years of research in the field, it gives an overview of the sexual landscape in China today.

Including new material on transsexuals, fetishism, sex aids and pornography, the book shows that the dominant ways of thinking about sex are neither innocent nor inconsequential, and that amid catalogues of prescriptions linking self-management to the collective good, people are making decisions about how to live their sexual lives.

The most lively and accessible critique of sexual discourse, this book will be essential reading for scholars in Chinese studies, cultural studies and sexuality and gender studies.

Introduction  1 The Sexed Body and Naturalized gender difference 2. The Sexual Body and its Normal Function  3. Sexual Dysfunction and Treatments in Sex Shops and Sex Clinics  4. Controlling Sex outside Marriage, Eugenics and Quality Children  5. Marriage Manuals and Instructions for Harmonious Sex  6. Sexual Abnormality: Homosexuality, Pornography and Fetishism  7. The Sale and Purchase of Sex  Conclusion

Joanna McMillan is a freelance writer specialising in contemporary Chinese social issues.  She gained her PhD from the University of Leeds and held a research fellowship at SOAS, University of London.