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Prostitution in China was a problem before the CCP took control of China. However, during the Mao era, prostitution was on a decline, most likely because of the idea of a shared cultural goal. Everyone was supposed to work together as a society and no one class was considered higher than another. Essentially, the bourgeoisie was eliminated and the popular masses: peasants, workers, soldiers, were the main elements of society. However, during the mid 1980s, Deng Xioaping openned China up economically which openned the door to the idea of individualism again. It was at this moment that prostitution began to resurface.
I found it quite interesting while reading through some of my sources that many believe prostitutes are to blame for the increase of STD’s in China. Doctor’s are considered a special group within the government that work as informants to the government to tell which citizens have STD’s and how they contracted them. If the person is considered a prostitute then they are forced into treatment and are sent to a “rehab” area, where they are educated about the wrongness of their lifestyle. Prostitutes who have been working for more than 3 years are considered vagrants. However, if a prostitute changes their life they are not categorized as one, and therefore not considered extremely low among society.
The difference from prositution from the 1990s and the pre-Mao era is prostitution is not limited to the lower echelons of society. Many prostitutes in the 1990s view their line of work in terms of a business and often go through a cost-benefit analysis. Money is quickly earned as a prostitute which in many females mind’s outweighs the dangers of their job. Many prostitutes work with foreigners, upper class men, and lower class. Many times massage parlors are used as a cover up for their line of duty. Interestingly enough, many daughters of government officials are have said to enter the profession because the money is good and quickly earned.
However, while reading through many of my sources I came across Chinese prostitutes in Thailand. It appears that many of the brothels run in Thailand are run by Chinese owners. Many Chinese prostitutes are forced to Thailand to work as prostitutes. Throughout my research I hope to learn more about this trend and why it is occuring.
I still have not figured out exactly what I am going to analyze yet for my paper. But I think I want to examine how the increase of economic independence brought about a resurgence of prostitution, and why many women are chosing this “profession” over others that are “more respectable.”
I was thinking of trying to do something on Chinese prostitution for my research paper. After taking the gender course last semester, I learned that prostitution was prevalent in the Song and Qing dynasty in the form of concubines and courtesans. I have not done much research on prostitution since 1949 in China, but I am assuming that it is still prevalent. Chinese prostitution in the past played a prevalent role in the idea of a Confucian society. A man would have a wife along with concubines and courtesans if they could afford them. The relationship between the wife and the concubines and courtesans was often mixed depending upon the sex of a child or how much time was spent with each additional woman. I want to know if it men still have frequent visits with a prostitute and if the wife is still accepting of it or is it a rarity. Last semester we watched a silent film, the title is now slipping my mind, about a woman who worked as a prostitute to support her son. Not only her, but her son as well were shunned by society because of her line of work. Eventually, the son had the opportunity to be adopted by the school headmaster after she killed a man who continually took her money. I want to know if this was prevalent during the Mao era, or if this was something that occurred only in early times.
Learning how to do this…so far so good!
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