Gender, self and pleasure: young women's discourse on masturbation in contemporary Shanghai

Abstract

This study examines views and experiences of young Shanghai women with respect to masturbation. Through in-depth interviews with forty young women in Shanghai aged 22 to 39 from May 2004 to July 2007, the study explores women's understandings of masturbation, their desires and their lives as modern Chinese women. The focus of the analysis is on how women talk about their masturbation experiences and make sense of their experiences in the context of their sexual relationships and lifestyle choices. By analysing women's narratives about masturbation, the paper suggests that women's self-articulation is actually an engagement in self-image construction. The strategies they use to position themselves in relation to different social discourses on masturbation, how they describe and perform the acts and how they articulate their experiences of masturbation are examined to illustrate how young women in Shanghai perform gender and sexual intimacies in a fast changing city.

When social status gets in the way of reproduction in modern settings: An evolutionary mismatch perspective

“…When driven to the extreme, East Asians may even completely forgo mating by remaining single and childless (Chang, 2014;Cheng, 2020;Raymo, Park, Xie, & Yeung, 2015). East Asian individuals increasingly report being too busy to socialize, comfortable with singlehood, and disinterested in dating (Ghaznavi et al, 2020;Pei & Ho, 2009;Wang & Jiang, 2016). Neologisms such as the "Sampo" in South Korea and "Satori" in Japan have been coined to refer to an emerging generation of young adults who have given up on courtship, marriage, and having children because of socioeconomic factors such as rising living costs, scarcity of affordable housing, and the desire to pursue one's career, hobbies, or other personal interests free of pressure from society (Gietel-Basten, 2019;Lim, 2021).…”

Intersectional Masturbation: A Content Analysis on Female Masturbation Studies Through a Sex Positive and Intersectional Lens

“…For some women and girls, many obstacles must be overcome to simply consider masturbating (Meiller & Hargons, 2019). There is some research that explores the relationships that women have with masturbating, although a research gap exists in that few studies examine these relationships (Carvalheira & Leal, 2013;Pinkerton, 2002;Towne, 2019;Yuxin & Ho Sik Ying, 2009). What research that does exist is narrowly focused on a few privileged identities, and excludes older women, women of color, trans and gender-diverse (TGD) folx with clitorises, and women with disabilities, to name a few.…”

Masturbation und sexuelle Gesundheit – Ein Forschungsüberblick

“…Aus einem soziologischen Blickwinkel beschreiben Yuxin et al (2009) in einer qualitativen Untersuchung, wie junge Frauen (n = 40, 22 -39 Jahre) in Shanghai über ihre Erfahrungen mit Masturbation sprechen. Das durch einen offenen Umgang mit Masturbation gewonnene selbstbestimmte Verhältnis zur eigenen Sexualität schien als Teil eines neuen Selbstbildes moderner chinesischer Frauen zu fungieren.…”