性解放

20世纪80年代，无法用抗生素治疗的疱疹和艾滋病的出现，性解放和死亡挂上了钩20世纪90年代的美国，不只是家庭道德这类“保守”思想的回潮，还有浪漫爱情追求的起死回生。在性自由的喧器开始退潮， 与此同时，进步中国进入创造了另一种性解放概念，在50-70年代中国人的性文化里，生育是性的基本目的。甚至被告知性是羞耻的，不可以被提及的。我们保持的那种处男处女的纯真，更加证明了性教育滞后于性成熟。传统观念在形式上的禁锢，并没有阻止生理发育期的少男少女对性神秘的追求与渴望，不能从正常渠道获取的知识和引导，变成了“成长的烦恼”在生理的冲击下有的甚至误入歧途，造成性道德意识薄弱，成年后的道德意识和伦理出现偏差。

In the 1980s, the emergence of sexually transmitted diseases, like herpes and AIDS, that could not be treated with antibiotics, brought with them a slew of “grim reaper” ads linking unprotected sex with death and disease, and advising against free love and multiple sexual partners. We saw a resurgence of "conservative" thinking, such as family values and monogamy, and also the pursuit of romantic love as opposed to free love and flower power. Yet while sexual freedom in the US and the West began to ebb, at the same time, the advancement of China created another concept of sexual liberation. In the sexual culture of the Chinese in the 1950s and 1970s, reproduction was the basic purpose of sex. Just talking about sex was considered shameful, and so sex could not even be mentioned. But by the 1980’s, young people in China had also embraced The Pill, which was being promoted by the government as a way to reduce their burgeoning birth rate. And embracing the pill meant freedom from centuries of tradition – for China’s youth, the sexual revolution had now begun! As in the West, the emphasis on maintaining virginity until marriage quickly disappeared for Chinese teenagers too.

And, in both China and the West, another phenomenon occurred too: the desire for sexual knowledge was satisfied for many by pornography – first in magazines, then in films and videos, and finally, via the internet. Eventually it seemed that nothing was taboo. While those of us who are from different ages or different cultures – indeed, different universes! - are left to ask whether this is a good or a bad thing, the results are undeniable: human sexuality has changed fundamentally and forever. With the development of The Pill, that genie can never be put back in the bottle.