China Censorship Primer: Just Say “No” to Female Orgasms
http://www.bruce-humes.com/?p=982
Don’t let media in the West fool you—talking about sex in China is not taboo. But apparently references to female genitalia and orgasms are still big no-nos.
To see how such touchy subjects are handled in Chinese media, let’s take a look at what happened to the Guardian’s “China to Open First Sex Theme Park” (May 15, 2009) when it was translated and published in China's leading digest of international news, Cankao Xiaoxi.
Comments
Wow, where to begin the comments on this one?
Firstly, I'm pleased as punch about the thought of a Chinese theme-park dedicated to sex and sexuality, especially one that features "giant replicas of genitals". Only wish it were located in Beijing. Can you imagine waking up every morning, looking out your window and being greeted by the sight of a GIGANTIC PHALLUS, or a MAMMOTH PUDENDA, even? Way better than shrubbery and bicycle sheds, if you ask me.
As for the female orgasm, it seems like the Daoists had it right, with their emphasis on female pleasure. China ought to respect its traditions - and the half of us who are busy holding up the sky for the rest of you dudes.
A final word on the penis (and wouldn't that be a great title for a memoir?) -
As Bruce notes: "...both uses of 'genitalia' in the original, which are gender-neutral, have for some reason been rendered in Chinese as 'phallus' (男根)."
Now, that's a very strange choice. A direct translation of "genitalia" into Chinese would have yielded 生殖器 (shēngzhíqì, "reproductive organ"), which is offensive only in that it is overly medical and rarely-ever-used (the word, that is, not the reproductive organ). I can't see how 男根 (nángēn, "man-root") is much of an improvement. It certainly doesn't seem that much tamer than 鸡巴 (jība,"cock"), 家伙 (jiāhuo, "guy/fellow") 鞭 (biān, "the whip") 屌 (diǎo, which I like to call "the hanging man"), 阳物 (yángwù, "Yang-thing") or 阴茎 (yīnjīng, "Yin-stalk").
The vagina? Don't even get me started.
Yep, I think my work is done here.
Cindy M. Carter, May 17, 2009, 11:15a.m.
[quote]The vagina? Don't even get me started.[/quote]
Please do, sounds like you are highly knowledgeable and that's not exactly vocab included in the textbooks...
gs, May 17, 2009, 4:01p.m.
Regarding the vagina, I think our resident expert here would be Brendan.
I say that because he completed, not long ago, a bilingual tome entitled Naughty Mandarin, or something along those lines. He knows words not only for the vagina, but for things most of us have yet to imagine, or experience.
Brendan, wherefore are thou???
Cindy M. Carter, May 17, 2009, 4:49p.m.
I guess this goes into the counting unhatched chickens file. From The Guardian:
Lucas
Lucas , May 18, 2009, 4:40p.m.
I just saw in the paper that Loveland was demolished over the weekend. Talk about a let-down...
Cindy M. Carter, May 19, 2009, 12:54a.m.
As proactive as the CCP is in their role as legislators of morality, I'm not surprised the park was axed. And yet, there is a certain cultural flexibility in China that generates an incredible potential for invention. I love it.
Canaan Morse, May 19, 2009, 2:30a.m.