Author's personal copy Sexuality Culture D0I10.1007/s12119-011-9123-0 ORIGINAL PAPER Re-Embedding Sexual Meanings:A Qualitative Comparison of the Premarital Sexual Scripts of Chinese and Japanese Young Adults James Farrer·Gefei Suo·Haruka Tsuchiya" Zhongxin Sun Springer Science+Business Media,LLC 2011 Abstract Through a comparison of the premarital sexual scripts of Chinese and Japanese young adults,we propose a general framework for cross-culturally com- paring sexual scripts.Based on a breakdown of narrative structure into six narrative components-act,context,purpose,actors,agency and consequences-this narra- tive component method of comparison provides a way of accounting for the con- siderable differences in Japanese and Chinese premarital sexual norms.Both Chinese and Japanese students'normative cultural scenarios for entry into sexual intercourse situate sexual intercourse within a "love"relationship;but narrative component analysis reveals key differences in the construction of acts,agents and contexts.Both the Japanese and Chinese findings point to a process of re-embedding sexual behavior in sexual scripts associated with a narrower scope of relational purposes and specific social contexts.The differential embedding of sexual scripts in an idealized relational context is shown to be relevant for the cultural con- struction of sexual agency. Keywords Sexual scripts·Premarital sexuality·Virginity·China·Japan· Comparative research.Sexual agency Introduction:Comparing Japanese and Chinese Premarital Sexual Norms The sociological description of sex as culturally scripted behavior suggests that a comparative study of sexual scripts may help explain cross-cultural differences in premarital sexual behavior patterns (Gagnon and Simon 1973;Gagnon 2004). Comparative qualitative studies of sexual scripts are made difficult,however, because of the lack of a comparative framework.In this paper,we develop a general J.Farrer(☒·G.Suo·H.Tsuchiya,Z.Sun Sophia University,Tokyo,Japan e-mail:jim_farrer@yahoo.com Published online:22 November 2011 ②Springer
ORIGINAL PAPER Re-Embedding Sexual Meanings: A Qualitative Comparison of the Premarital Sexual Scripts of Chinese and Japanese Young Adults James Farrer • Gefei Suo • Haruka Tsuchiya • Zhongxin Sun Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract Through a comparison of the premarital sexual scripts of Chinese and Japanese young adults, we propose a general framework for cross-culturally comparing sexual scripts. Based on a breakdown of narrative structure into six narrative components—act, context, purpose, actors, agency and consequences—this narrative component method of comparison provides a way of accounting for the considerable differences in Japanese and Chinese premarital sexual norms. Both Chinese and Japanese students’ normative cultural scenarios for entry into sexual intercourse situate sexual intercourse within a ‘‘love’’ relationship; but narrative component analysis reveals key differences in the construction of acts, agents and contexts. Both the Japanese and Chinese findings point to a process of re-embedding sexual behavior in sexual scripts associated with a narrower scope of relational purposes and specific social contexts. The differential embedding of sexual scripts in an idealized relational context is shown to be relevant for the cultural construction of sexual agency. Keywords Sexual scripts Premarital sexuality Virginity China Japan Comparative research Sexual agency Introduction: Comparing Japanese and Chinese Premarital Sexual Norms The sociological description of sex as culturally scripted behavior suggests that a comparative study of sexual scripts may help explain cross-cultural differences in premarital sexual behavior patterns (Gagnon and Simon 1973; Gagnon 2004). Comparative qualitative studies of sexual scripts are made difficult, however, because of the lack of a comparative framework. In this paper, we develop a general J. Farrer (&) G. Suo H. Tsuchiya Z. Sun Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan e-mail: jim_farrer@yahoo.com 123 Sexuality & Culture DOI 10.1007/s12119-011-9123-0 Author's personal copy
Author's personal copy J.Farrer et al. framework for comparing cultural scripts,and apply it to the narratives of premarital sexual relationships of Chinese and Japanese young adults.Japan and China make for an important comparative case study.China stands out for the late ages of first sex and relatively conservative attitudes toward premarital sex (Parish et al.2007) In comparison,Japan shows more permissive attitudes toward premarital sexuality. Neither society,however,has the monotheistic religious heritage which shapes Western or West Asian sexual scripts.This raises the question of how cultural constraints on premarital sexuality are scripted in China and Japan,and how we can account for the difference between the two. In a comparison of Chinese and US love ideologies,Rothbaum and Tsang (1998) suggest that Chinese meanings of love are more deeply embedded in larger cultural contexts,whereas US conceptions are less embedded;that is,more focused on individual sexual motives.Building on sociological accounts of culture,we suggest that meanings of sexual acts are not simply more or less embedded in culture at a general level.Rather,sexual scripts narratively embed the meanings of sexual acts in different social situations through narrative constructions of contexts,purposes, agents,and forms of agency peculiar to these contexts.In particular,we investigate how Chinese and Japanese premarital scripts differently structure sexual agency by embedding actors in specific types of relational contexts,forming a master narrative for premarital sexual behavior.We suggest that some forms of premarital sexual permissiveness involve increasing this narrative embedding rather than reducing it. Changing Premarital Sex Norms in China and Japan We must understand contemporary premarital sexual scripts in the context of rapid changes in sexual culture in China and Japan.Late imperial China seems to have had far stricter notions of female chastity than the roughly contemporaneous Tokugawa Japan.A Confucian cult of female chastity was promulgated to all levels of Chinese society.Marriages were arranged by parents,and generally involved no prior interactions between young people(Sommer 2000).In pre-modern Japan,in contrast,virginity was less emphasized.Rural commoners engaged in premarital "night visits"(yobai)and what were effectively trial marriages.Divorce and remarriage remained common until the late nineteenth century(Smith and Wiswell 1982;Fuess 2004).Despite such large initial differences,westernizing legal reforms and wartime social policies produced a remarkable convergence of Japanese and Chinese sexual cultures in the mid-twentieth century.Legal and social reforms emphasized monogamy,premarital abstinence,and women's reproductive duties to the nation (Dikotter 1995;Edwards 2000;Akagawa 1999;Tipton 2005;Sato 2003; McLelland 2010).In the immediate postwar period,both Communist China and Liberal Democratic Japan continued to promote premarital sexual abstinence for youth (Asayama 1975;Evans 1997;Castro-Vazquez 2007). Chinese and Japanese societies followed very different paths away from this state-sponsored culture of sexual austerity and toward the relatively permissive culture of premarital dating that we describe in this study.Under the Chinese Marriage Law of 1950,free choice of marriage partners became the norm by the 2Springer
framework for comparing cultural scripts, and apply it to the narratives of premarital sexual relationships of Chinese and Japanese young adults. Japan and China make for an important comparative case study. China stands out for the late ages of first sex and relatively conservative attitudes toward premarital sex (Parish et al. 2007). In comparison, Japan shows more permissive attitudes toward premarital sexuality. Neither society, however, has the monotheistic religious heritage which shapes Western or West Asian sexual scripts. This raises the question of how cultural constraints on premarital sexuality are scripted in China and Japan, and how we can account for the difference between the two. In a comparison of Chinese and US love ideologies, Rothbaum and Tsang (1998), suggest that Chinese meanings of love are more deeply embedded in larger cultural contexts, whereas US conceptions are less embedded; that is, more focused on individual sexual motives. Building on sociological accounts of culture, we suggest that meanings of sexual acts are not simply more or less embedded in culture at a general level. Rather, sexual scripts narratively embed the meanings of sexual acts in different social situations through narrative constructions of contexts, purposes, agents, and forms of agency peculiar to these contexts. In particular, we investigate how Chinese and Japanese premarital scripts differently structure sexual agency by embedding actors in specific types of relational contexts, forming a master narrative for premarital sexual behavior. We suggest that some forms of premarital sexual permissiveness involve increasing this narrative embedding rather than reducing it. Changing Premarital Sex Norms in China and Japan We must understand contemporary premarital sexual scripts in the context of rapid changes in sexual culture in China and Japan. Late imperial China seems to have had far stricter notions of female chastity than the roughly contemporaneous Tokugawa Japan. A Confucian cult of female chastity was promulgated to all levels of Chinese society. Marriages were arranged by parents, and generally involved no prior interactions between young people (Sommer 2000). In pre-modern Japan, in contrast, virginity was less emphasized. Rural commoners engaged in premarital ‘‘night visits’’ (yobai) and what were effectively trial marriages. Divorce and remarriage remained common until the late nineteenth century (Smith and Wiswell 1982; Fuess 2004). Despite such large initial differences, westernizing legal reforms and wartime social policies produced a remarkable convergence of Japanese and Chinese sexual cultures in the mid-twentieth century. Legal and social reforms emphasized monogamy, premarital abstinence, and women’s reproductive duties to the nation (Dikotter 1995; Edwards 2000; Akagawa 1999; Tipton 2005; Sato 2003; McLelland 2010). In the immediate postwar period, both Communist China and Liberal Democratic Japan continued to promote premarital sexual abstinence for youth (Asayama 1975; Evans 1997; Castro-Vazquez 2007). Chinese and Japanese societies followed very different paths away from this state-sponsored culture of sexual austerity and toward the relatively permissive culture of premarital dating that we describe in this study. Under the Chinese Marriage Law of 1950, free choice of marriage partners became the norm by the J. Farrer et al. 123 Author's personal copy
Author's personal copy Re-Embedding Sexual Meanings 1960s,though a "dating culture"that included premarital sex was not allowed to develop (Xu and Whyte 1990;Yan 2003).In the politically charged 1950s and 1960s the Chinese party-state defined sexuality within a narrow marital framework (Evans 1997).In a popular reaction against this politicization of private life,an "opening up"of public sexual culture began in the 1980s(Honig and Hershatter 1988),leading to greater acceptance of premarital sex and an increase in premarital sexual behavior among urban youth in the 1990s(Farrer 2002;Pan and Yang 2004; Li 1998;Parish et al.2007;People's University 2007).Still,even in the "reform and opening"period,Chinese secondary schools prohibited dating as a form of "premature love"(Evans 1997:Yang and Yao 2002).Although university students were allowed to marry in 2005,universities maintained rules prohibiting sexual intercourse among unmarried students,though these are unevenly enforced. Japan,in contrast,experienced a mass "democratization"of male-female relationships in the immediate post-war era,partly as a result of American influences (McLelland 2010).Though schools promoted sexual purity (junketsu)for youth through the 1960s,premarital sex began increasing in the 1950s,already reaching 27%for 21-year-old male students,and 10%for 21-year-old female students in 1958.American terms such as "petting"became part of everyday Japanese discourse (Asayama 1975)."Romantic love marriages"(renai kekkon) overtook the number of "marriages by introduction"(omiai kekkon)in the mid- 1960s,and by 2005 only 6.4%of marrying Japanese couples were reported to have met by omiai (NIPSSR 2005).Longitudinal surveys of sexual attitudes show increasing premarital sexual permissiveness from the 1950s onward (NHK 2004). By 2002,only 11%of unmarried respondents in a national survey held negative attitudes toward premarital sex(NIPSSR 2002).Japanese youth began dating earlier than before and putting a greater emphasis on sex in dating relationships(Wada 1999).Although sexual education in Japanese schools continued to emphasize romantic love and youthful innocence (Castro-Vazquez 2007),increasingly, premarital sex was normalized within an "intimacy paradigm"in which sex is understood as a legitimate expression of feelings of love and caring for a partner, increasingly detached from the goal of marriage (Akagawa 1999:382;Tanimoto 2008;Farrer et al.2008). Recent national surveys show recent rapid increases in sexual activity among both Chinese and Japanese university student populations(see Figs.1 and 2),but also a large continuing difference in behavioral patterns.Chinese students are less likely to have engaged in pre-coital physical intimacy and half as likely to have engaged in premarital sexual intercourse as Japanese students (see Table 1). Surveys conducted in individual Chinese universities show that substantial minor- ities of Chinese students disapprove of premarital sex under any circumstances (ranging from 11 to 47%),with women being substantially more disapproving than men (Dong et al.2005;Ma and Shaoming 2003;Miao 2005;Gao 2004;Sun and Jianhong 2006;Zheng 2005).In contrast,Japanese national surveys show that only 3-4%of Japanese university students believe that sex should wait until marriage or until after a formal engagement (JASE 2007;NIPSSR 2005). While useful as quantitative benchmarks,these previous studies are based on closed-end questionnaires.This study aims to fill in this gap by using a sexual ②Springer
1960s, though a ‘‘dating culture’’ that included premarital sex was not allowed to develop (Xu and Whyte 1990; Yan 2003). In the politically charged 1950s and 1960s the Chinese party-state defined sexuality within a narrow marital framework (Evans 1997). In a popular reaction against this politicization of private life, an ‘‘opening up’’ of public sexual culture began in the 1980s (Honig and Hershatter 1988), leading to greater acceptance of premarital sex and an increase in premarital sexual behavior among urban youth in the 1990s (Farrer 2002; Pan and Yang 2004; Li 1998; Parish et al. 2007; People’s University 2007). Still, even in the ‘‘reform and opening’’ period, Chinese secondary schools prohibited dating as a form of ‘‘premature love’’ (Evans 1997; Yang and Yao 2002). Although university students were allowed to marry in 2005, universities maintained rules prohibiting sexual intercourse among unmarried students, though these are unevenly enforced. Japan, in contrast, experienced a mass ‘‘democratization’’ of male–female relationships in the immediate post-war era, partly as a result of American influences (McLelland 2010). Though schools promoted sexual purity (junketsu) for youth through the 1960s, premarital sex began increasing in the 1950s, already reaching 27% for 21-year-old male students, and 10% for 21-year-old female students in 1958. American terms such as ‘‘petting’’ became part of everyday Japanese discourse (Asayama 1975). ‘‘Romantic love marriages’’ (renai kekkon) overtook the number of ‘‘marriages by introduction’’ (omiai kekkon) in the mid- 1960s, and by 2005 only 6.4% of marrying Japanese couples were reported to have met by omiai (NIPSSR 2005). Longitudinal surveys of sexual attitudes show increasing premarital sexual permissiveness from the 1950s onward (NHK 2004). By 2002, only 11% of unmarried respondents in a national survey held negative attitudes toward premarital sex (NIPSSR 2002). Japanese youth began dating earlier than before and putting a greater emphasis on sex in dating relationships (Wada 1999). Although sexual education in Japanese schools continued to emphasize romantic love and youthful innocence (Castro-Vazquez 2007), increasingly, premarital sex was normalized within an ‘‘intimacy paradigm’’ in which sex is understood as a legitimate expression of feelings of love and caring for a partner, increasingly detached from the goal of marriage (Akagawa 1999: 382; Tanimoto 2008; Farrer et al. 2008). Recent national surveys show recent rapid increases in sexual activity among both Chinese and Japanese university student populations (see Figs. 1 and 2), but also a large continuing difference in behavioral patterns. Chinese students are less likely to have engaged in pre-coital physical intimacy and half as likely to have engaged in premarital sexual intercourse as Japanese students (see Table 1). Surveys conducted in individual Chinese universities show that substantial minorities of Chinese students disapprove of premarital sex under any circumstances (ranging from 11 to 47%), with women being substantially more disapproving than men (Dong et al. 2005; Ma and Shaoming 2003; Miao 2005; Gao 2004; Sun and Jianhong 2006; Zheng 2005). In contrast, Japanese national surveys show that only 3–4% of Japanese university students believe that sex should wait until marriage or until after a formal engagement (JASE 2007; NIPSSR 2005). While useful as quantitative benchmarks, these previous studies are based on closed-end questionnaires. This study aims to fill in this gap by using a sexual Re-Embedding Sexual Meanings 123 Author's personal copy
Author's personal copy J.Farrer et al. 100 oMale Female 70 50 40 30 20 0 1974 1981 1987 1993 1999 2005 Fig.1 Japanese students sexual intercourse experience (JASE 2007) 100 Male ▣Female 8 6 30 10 0 1997 2001 2005 Fig.2 Chinese University students sexual intercourse experience (Chinese People's University 2007) scripting perspective to discuss the cultural constructions of premarital sexual conduct in these two societies. The Narrative Components Framework as a Comparative Method for Analyzing Shared Cultural Scripts The sexual scripting perspective is a theoretical account of how sexual conduct is narratively organized (Gagnon and Simon 1973;Gagnon 2004),or "scripted" around cultural scenarios at the social and interpersonal,and psychological,levels. Gagnon and Simon propose three loosely linked levels at which sexual conduct is organized.Our study focuses on the most social level,the cultural scenarios, defined as the socially prescribed narratives governing sexual actions.Although beyond the scope of this paper,cultural scenarios have a direct influence on 2Springer
scripting perspective to discuss the cultural constructions of premarital sexual conduct in these two societies. The Narrative Components Framework as a Comparative Method for Analyzing Shared Cultural Scripts The sexual scripting perspective is a theoretical account of how sexual conduct is narratively organized (Gagnon and Simon 1973; Gagnon 2004), or ‘‘scripted’’ around cultural scenarios at the social and interpersonal, and psychological, levels. Gagnon and Simon propose three loosely linked levels at which sexual conduct is organized. Our study focuses on the most social level, the cultural scenarios, defined as the socially prescribed narratives governing sexual actions. Although beyond the scope of this paper, cultural scenarios have a direct influence on 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1974 1981 1987 1993 1999 2005 Percent Male Female Fig. 1 Japanese students sexual intercourse experience (JASE 2007) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1997 2001 2005 Percent Male Female Fig. 2 Chinese University students sexual intercourse experience (Chinese People’s University 2007) J. Farrer et al. 123 Author's personal copy
Author's personal copy Re-Embedding Sexual Meanings Table 1 Basic data on Japanese and Chinese students sexual experience China Japan References Proportion of university students 64.1%(male) 79.0%(male) Pan and Yang (2004), reporting dating experience 61.4%(female) 81.5%(female) JASE(2007:13) Proportion of university students 44.5%(male) 72.3%(male) Pan and Yang (2004), reporting kissing experience 47.2%(female) 72.2%(female) JASE(2007:13) Urban high school students who 50%(male) 5.2%(male) Yang and Yao (2002). disapprove of premarital sex 68%(female) 6.2%(female) Tokyo Municipal Government (2008:67) Urban high school students 3%(male and 47.3%(male Yang and Yao (2002). reporting sexual intercourse female,all 3rd year) Tokyo Municipal experience years) 46.5%(female Government (2008:68) 3 rd year） University students reporting 36.6%(male) 61.3%(male) Chinese People's sexual intercourse experience 26.8%(female) 61.1%(female) University (2007). JASE(2007:13) Average age of first marriage- 28.8(male) 31.6(male) SASS (2011).MHLW Shanghai and Tokyo 26.5(female) 29.7(female) (2009) Age of first sex for urban young 21.9 (male and 17.7(male) People's Daily (2005). adults female) 18.1 (female) Kitamura et al.(2003) interpersonal scripts,the often privately negotiated patterns in sexual interactions, and intrapersonal scripts,the internalized narratives that individuals construct about their own sexual behaviors and fantasies.(Gagnon 2004;Escoffer 2004:xix). Developed out of symbolic interactionism,the sexual scripting perspective was pivotal in shifting the focus of studies of sexuality from the realm of biological to the social (Irvine 2003;Simon and Gagnon 2003). This paper focuses on identifying cultural scenarios,or the collective sexual scripts,towards which youth orient themselves.Cultural scenarios can be thought of as“master narratives”or“canonical narratives'”(Bruner 1991)towards which youth orient their own narrative accounts-even in the breach.In both Japan and China,we were able to distinguish dominant cultural scenarios from alternative or deviant scenarios that are also shared sexual scripts (though not as widely shared, and more often disputed).Cultural scenarios are often influenced by strong institutional contexts such as the educational system as well as popular media (Christian-Smith 1994;Carpenter 2001;Irvine 2003).Our data suggest that such dominant scenarios serve as collective references for individual narratives.In other words,young people refer to these cultural scenarios for sexual behavior even if they do not always follow the implied interpersonal scripts.On the other hand,we also examine alternative scenarios linked to specific relational and social contexts (Swidler 2001).Discussions of alternative scripts often refer back to dominant cultural scenarios as a point of contrast. The approach of identifying cultural scenarios for sexual behavior has many precedents in research on sexual scripts.Researchers have discussed how culturally ②Springer
interpersonal scripts, the often privately negotiated patterns in sexual interactions, and intrapersonal scripts, the internalized narratives that individuals construct about their own sexual behaviors and fantasies. (Gagnon 2004; Escoffer 2004: xix). Developed out of symbolic interactionism, the sexual scripting perspective was pivotal in shifting the focus of studies of sexuality from the realm of biological to the social (Irvine 2003; Simon and Gagnon 2003). This paper focuses on identifying cultural scenarios, or the collective sexual scripts, towards which youth orient themselves. Cultural scenarios can be thought of as ‘‘master narratives’’ or ‘‘canonical narratives’’ (Bruner 1991) towards which youth orient their own narrative accounts—even in the breach. In both Japan and China, we were able to distinguish dominant cultural scenarios from alternative or deviant scenarios that are also shared sexual scripts (though not as widely shared, and more often disputed). Cultural scenarios are often influenced by strong institutional contexts such as the educational system as well as popular media (Christian-Smith 1994; Carpenter 2001; Irvine 2003). Our data suggest that such dominant scenarios serve as collective references for individual narratives. In other words, young people refer to these cultural scenarios for sexual behavior even if they do not always follow the implied interpersonal scripts. On the other hand, we also examine alternative scenarios linked to specific relational and social contexts (Swidler 2001). Discussions of alternative scripts often refer back to dominant cultural scenarios as a point of contrast. The approach of identifying cultural scenarios for sexual behavior has many precedents in research on sexual scripts. Researchers have discussed how culturally Table 1 Basic data on Japanese and Chinese students sexual experience China Japan References Proportion of university students reporting dating experience 64.1% (male) 79.0% (male) Pan and Yang (2004), JASE (2007: 13) 61.4% (female) 81.5% (female) Proportion of university students reporting kissing experience 44.5% (male) 72.3% (male) Pan and Yang (2004), JASE (2007: 13) 47.2% (female) 72.2% (female) Urban high school students who disapprove of premarital sex 50% (male) 5.2% (male) Yang and Yao (2002), Tokyo Municipal Government (2008: 67) 68% (female) 6.2% (female) Urban high school students reporting sexual intercourse experience 3% (male and female, all years) 47.3% (male 3rd year) Yang and Yao (2002), Tokyo Municipal Government (2008: 68) 46.5% (female 3rd year) University students reporting sexual intercourse experience 36.6% (male) 61.3% (male) Chinese People’s University (2007), JASE (2007: 13) 26.8% (female) 61.1% (female) Average age of first marriage— Shanghai and Tokyo 28.8 (male) 31.6 (male) SASS (2011), MHLW (2009) 26.5 (female) 29.7 (female) Age of first sex for urban young adults 21.9 (male and female) 17.7 (male) People’s Daily (2005), Kitamura et al. (2003) 18.1 (female) Re-Embedding Sexual Meanings 123 Author's personal copy