Beijing : A Chinese school textbook describing girls who have premarital sex as “cheap” and “sacrificing their bodies” has sparked a fierce backlash on social media on micro-blogging site Weibo.
The High School Sex Education book said. Premarital sex had a “tremendous negative psychological and physical impact on girls.”
The book was first published in 2004, but it came to light recently after a teacher posted passages of the textbook on Weibo.
Rhe other Weibo users commented on the post by saying. “Why does this discrimination only point to women? What about men?”
“Instead of insinuating and making innuendos, sex education should aim at protection and safety. Publishing textbook like this, these educators are sick!”
The book says. “Girls do not increase the love they receive from boys by sacrificing their bodies, but rather are seen as ‘degraded’ by their ‘conquerors. As a result, sexual relations can cause women to lose love.”
Li Yinhe, a sexologist at the Institute of Sociology at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said the textbook is parroting archaic Chinese beliefs.
“There is no national unified sex-education textbook in China, so every province has its own version of sex education,” she added. “Some educators are still firmly holding to old views,” she adds, describing them as “obviously wrong.”
Another female user said on Weibo. “It takes two hands to clap.”
“This makes me sick. As a man I can’t stand this,” said another user. “Since you want women not to have premarital sex, then please tell all boys to do the same.”
Another said that the solution to the problem would be to “lock your women up, then they wouldn’t be called cheap”.
The textbook was published, by 21st Century Publishing Group. The publishing group has denied the book was insulting to women. A total of 2,000 copies have reportedly been issued to students in Jiangxi.