Opening Up

Youth Sex Culture and Market Reform in Shanghai

Cloth $62.50 ISBN: 9780226238708 Published May 2002

Paper $25.00 ISBN: 9780226238715 Published May 2002

From teen dating to public displays of affection, from the "fishing girls" and "big moneys" that wander discos in search of romance to the changing shape of sex in the Chinese city, this is a book like no other. James Farrer immerses himself in the vibrant nightlife of Shanghai, draws on individual and group interviews with Chinese youth, as well as recent changes in popular media, and considers how sexual culture has changed in China since its shift to a more market-based economy.

More and more men and women in China these days are having sex before marriage, creating a new youth sex culture based on romance, leisure, and free choice. The Chinese themselves describe these changes as an "opening up" in response to foreign influences and increased Westernization. Farrer explores these changes by tracing the basic elements in talk about sex and sexuality in Shanghai. He then shows how Chinese youth act out the sometimes-contradictory meanings of sex in the new market society. For Farrer, sexuality is a lens through which we can see how China imagines and understands itself in the wake of increased globalization. Through personal storytelling, neighborhood gossip, and games of seduction, young men and women in Shanghai balance pragmatism with romance, lust with love, and seriousness with play, collectively constructing and individually coping with a new culture based on market principles. With its provocative glimpse into the sex lives of young Chinese, then, Opening Up offers something even greater: a thoughtful consideration of China as it continues to develop into an economic superpower.

Review Quotes
Contents

“Farrer’s book, with its first-hand data and careful analysis focused on sexual cultures among unmarried urban youth, unofficial public culture, and interactions in daily life and leisure, contributes to an emerging literature on sex and love in contemporary China. . . . It is an invaluable resource on sexual culture in contemporary China for students and general readers as well as for specialists in sexual and gender studies.”

“This is a fine and nuanced study of sexuality in one Chinese city that offers much food for thought for studies of sexuality in general. Not the least of the book’s virtues is Farrer’s writing, which is infused with eloquent sensitivity to and compassion for the ways in which his subjects strive to cope with the sexual challenges of a dizzying rush to modernity.”

“A ground-breaking ethnography. [Farrer’s} detailed descriptions of the talk and the behaviour of young Shanghainese make this a valuable contribution to our understanding of contemporary China.”

“Anyone interested in Chinese society will wish to engage in a dialogue with this book. It makes a truly valuable contribution by returning our attention to the relationship between moral codes, performance and behaviour. In so doing, Farrer has produced a conceptual framework that enables us to begin to talk about the changes and continuities that are part of urban China’s social landscape. For anyone intrigued by contemporary China this is a must-read.”

“I enjoyed very much reading this extraordinary book with such rich and deep ethnographic data, yet Farrer’s stories are not comforting stories, but ‘images of fragmented worlds of consumption, romantic nostalgia, professional success, and small pleasures.’”

“As an analysis of the sexual culture of Shanghai youth in the second half of the nineties, Farrer’s book is revealing and persuasive. . . . A sophisticated and compelling analysis of youth sex culture in Shanghai and a striking example of the urban ethnography that can be done in the PRC.”—, <I>

“This refreshing ethnographic study explores the new youth sex culture being created in contemporary Shanghai as it shifts to a market-based economy. Farrer immerses himself in the city’s vibrant nightlife, conducts individual and group interviews, and examines popular media to provide a provocative glimpse of the sex lives of young Chinese. For Farrer, sex is a lens through which we can understand how China imagines and understands itself in the wake of globalization. Students of Chinese anthropology, media and culture will find this a fascinating study. . . . The reader gains a refreshing sense of the textures of everyday life in one part of free-wheeling China and a good understanding of the social impact of China’s remarkable ongoing transformation.”

“Farrer’s volume marks a new page in studying Chinese sexuality, courtship, marriage, family and gender relations. . . . Using a wide range of informants, interviews and magazine stories, he closely relates the recently developed sexual freedom to the rapid development of the market economy. . . . A necessary addition to Chinese studies in general and the research of Chinese sexual culture, gender, marriage and the family in particular.”

“Opening Up links China’s retreat from socialism to the emergence of a newly sexualized public life. The voices here of urban Shanghai youth tell the story of sexual revolution, but it is Farrer who molds their riveting individual conversations about sexual initiation and romantic fantasies into a compelling narrative of an entire generation’s coming of age.”

“I can think of few books that offer such a layered appreciation for the textures of everyday life in urban China. Written in a hip and contemporary style, Opening Up is a pleasure to read.”

“Opening Up conveys a panoramic, vivid, and fully convincing picture of the changing scene in China with remarkable assurance. Farrer draws on extensive research and interviews with Chinese youth, revealing a rich and deep mastery of his subject. This is an extraordinary new book.”

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Sex and the Market

1 Opening Up
And Other Stories

2 Scenes
High and Low

3 Characters
Big and Small

4 True Stories
From Romance to Irony

5 Talking Friends
For Love and for Fun

6 Feelings
Good and Memorable

7 Virginity
Purity of Purpose

8 Making Love
And Talking about It

9 Play
Dance and Sex

Methodological Appendix

Notes

Bibliography

Index

For more information, or to order this book, please visit http://www.press.uchicago.edu

Anthropology: General Anthropology

Asian Studies: East Asia

Economics and Business: Economics--Urban and Regional

Gender and Sexuality

Media Studies

Rhetoric and Communication

Sociology: Race, Ethnic, and Minority Relations | Social History | Sociology--Marriage and Family | Urban and Rural Sociology

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