A survey recently conducted among college students in east China's Zhejiang Province show that they hold a quite open attitude toward sex.
According to the survey results, 62 percent of the students participating in the survey consider that college students can have sex before marriage so long as the pairs love each other.
Results show, 85 percent of the students think pairs who already have sexual relations may not get married later, upon which male and female students' opinions are unanimous. It is a great challenge to Chinese traditional idea of being faithful to one lover all lifetime.
Among the 13 percent who concede frankly that they have once had sex, male students take the majority.
The survey indicates China's traditional view that a girl should keep her virginity until marriage is on the verge of collapse.
According to the results, 62 percent regard the cherishing of chastity as an oppression against human nature. More female students agree upon this than males.
In the eight standards concerning spouse selection, namely one's characters and morality, income or economic conditions, appearance, educational level, temper, health, chastity as well as mutual understanding, most students put the lover's characters and morality in the first place.
Temper and mutual understanding come the second and third places. Chastity, lined as the last one, is considered the least significant factor affecting their decisions when choosing a spouse.
About 71 percent of the students think that they will still marry their girl or boy friends even knowing they once have sexual relations with others.
Earlier last year, some automatic vendors selling condoms were installed in some Chinese university campuses, which immediately incurred a great disturbance in domestic educational sector as well as other social circles.
This survey shows that 62 percent of the students regard it as a must to set up condom automat in universities.
Actually, the establishment of such vendors is only a part of an anti-AIDS tour launched by the state family planning publicity center last November.
The center's working staff also handed out pamphlets on condom, contraception and how to avoid unhealthy sex in many college campuses. Bill boards containing pictures attracted not only young students thirsty for the knowledge, but also their teachers.
A majority of students in the People's University of China reflected that they were not annoyed when being surveyed on sex and were poised to receive brochures on related topics.
Though more and more Zhejiang college students hold an open attitude toward sex, most are still quite traditional in their ideas of marriage.
The survey results show that 13 percent can completely accept to have love affairs outside wedlock; while 63 percent express their understanding about it.
However, 87 percent consider that married people have no right to have affairs freely, and say they themselves are not willing to act as intruders of others' marriages.
Once having ultra-marital love, the majority think that they can not simply let their emotions overcome reasons.
According to the results, 75 percent will not get divorced even if having love affairs, and 63 percent won't divorce the other side if they repent of being unfaithful to marriage.
Among all the surveyed students, no male can accept a wife with an educational level higher than his own; while no girl is willing to marry a man with a lower level of education.
In addition, about 60 percent of the students hold a tolerant view about homosexuality, thinking it should be permitted openly.
Only months ago, it has been officially announced in China that homosexuality is not a kind of mental disease.
The survey shows that an increasing number of Chinese college students have been emancipated from the thousand-year traditional taboo on the subject of sex, said local experts.
(People's Daily January 18, 2001)
