Sexual cultures in east Asia: The social construction of sexuality and sexual risk in a time of AIDS

305 Pages·2003·1.87 MB·English

by  Evelyne Micollier

Sexual Cultures in East Asia
This book is the first to examine the social construction of sexual
identity and the social stigma attached to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in
East Asia. By studying sex work in the context of socio-economic
change, the contributors persuasively argue that a discourse of
sexuality forms a central point from which examinations of broader
social and political relationships can take place. In an area where the
discussion of sexuality is still largely a taboo subject, Sexual Cultures in
East Asia provides a unique collection of case studies that highlight
the difference between sexual attitudes within East Asia, and also the
relationship between seemingly ‘new’ behaviour and traditional
ideologies.
Specific issues discussed in relation to the AIDS epidemic and the
social construction of sexual risk and sexual identity include:
• how sexual identity is formed and/or transformed
• networks which can channel or condition selection of sexual
partners
• the complex relationship between traditional filial duty and
prostitution
• gendered relations of power
• the relationship between kinship, sex education, marriage, NGOs
and sex
By using a multidisciplinary approach, which includes sociological,
medical and historical perspectives, Micollier highlights how East
Asian sexual identity is most definitely a social construction.
Designed specifically for social scientists and those involved in AIDS
development programs, this book will appeal to anyone interested in
sexuality and Asian cultures.
Evelyne Micollier is an Affiliated Research Fellow of the
International Institute of Asian Studies, The Netherlands.
ii
RoutledgeCurzon-IIAS Asian Studies Series
Series Co-ordinator: Dick van der Meij
Institute Director: Wim A.L.Stokhof
The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) is a postdoctoral
research centre based in Leiden and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its
main objective is to encourage Asian Studies in the Humanities and
the Social Sciences and to promote national and international co-
operation in these fields. The Institute was established in 1993 on the
initiative of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences,
Leiden University, Universiteit van Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit
Amsterdam. It is mainly financed by The Netherlands Ministry of
Education, Culture, and Sciences. IIAS has played an active role in co-
ordinating and disseminating information on Asian Studies
throughout the world. The Institute acts as an international mediator,
bringing together various entities for the enhancement of Asian
Studies both within and outside The Netherlands. The
RoutledgeCurzon-IIAS Asian Studies series reflects the scope of the
Institute. The Editorial Board consists of Erik Zürcher, Wang Gungwu,
Om Prakash, Dru Gladney, Amiya K.Bagchi, James C.Scott, Jean-Luc
Domenach and Frits Staal.
Images of the ‘Modern Woman’ Rethinking Chinese
in Asia Transnational Enterprises
Edited by Shoma Munshi Edited by Leo Douw, Cen Huang
and David Ip
Nomads in the Sedentary World
Edited by Anatoly M.Khazanov Indonesian Sea Nomads
and Andre Wink Cynthia Chou
Reading Asia Diasporas and Interculturalism
Edited by Frans Husken and Dick in Asian Performing Arts
van der Meij Edited by Hae-Kyung Um
Tourism, Heritage and National Reading East Asian Writing
Culture in Java Edited by Michel Hockx and Ivo
Heidi Dahles Smits
Asian-European Perspectives Sexual Cultures in East Asia
Edited by Wim Stokhof and Paul Edited by Evelyn Micollier
van der Velde
Hinduism in Modern Indonesia
Law and Development in East Edited by Martin Ramstedt
and Southeast Asia
Edited by Christoph Antons
The Indian Ocean Rim
Edited by Gwyn Campbell
Sexual Cultures in East
Asia
The social construction of sexuality
and sexual risk in a time of AIDS
Edited by Evelyne Micollier
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2004
by RoutledgeCurzon
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by RoutledgeCurzon
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
RoutledgeCurzon is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2004 editorial matter and selection, Evelyne Micollier; individual
chapters, the contributors
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-49657-4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-57315-3 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-30871-2 (Print Edition)
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Notes on Contributors ix
Introduction by Evelyne Micollier xiv
PART ONE: SEXUAL CULTURES—CAUGHT BETWEEN
TRADITIONS AND TRANSITIONS
1 Social Significance of Commercial Sex work: 2
Implicitly Shaping a Sexual Culture?
Evelyne Micollier
2 Three ‘Red Light Districts’ in China 22
Pan Suiming
3 Japanese Sex Workers: Between Choice and 54
Coercion
Wim Lunsing
4 Dutiful Daughters and Temporary Wives: 76
Economic Dependency on Commercial Sex in
Vietnam
Ian Walters
5 What is Known about Gender, the Constructs 99
of Sexuality and Dictates of Behaviour in
Vietnam as a Confucian and Socialist Society
and their Impact on the Risk of HIV/AIDS
Epidemic
Paula-Frances Kelly
6 The Broken Women of Cambodia 128
Annuska Derks
PART TWO: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SEXUAL RISK
IN THE LIGHT OF STDs/AIDS CONTROL
vi
7 Public Health Policy vs. Colonial Laissez- 158
Faire: STDs and Prostitution in Republican
Shanghai
Christian Henriot
8 Representations of ‘Us’ and ‘Others’ in the 181
AIDS News Discourse: A Taiwanese
Experience
Mei-Ling HsuWen-Chi LinTsui-Sung Wu
9 AIDS and Civil Society in Taiwan 222
Evelyne Micollier
10 Sex Education for Vietnamese Adolescents in 240
the Context of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: The
NGOs, the School, the Family and the Civil
Society
Marie-Eve Blanc
11 Sex Work in Times of AIDS, Caught between 262
the Visible and the Invisible
Ivan WolffersPaula KellyAnke van der Kwaak
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This volume is a product of a research project focusing on AIDS,
sexuality, and civil society in East Asia and in China in particular
(1998–2001). The book was prepared during an International
Conference on July 6–7, 2000 in Amsterdam organized by the
International Institute for Asian Studies. The editor acknowledges the
competent support of the IIAS staff during the book production’s
process. I am particularly grateful to Dr Rogier Busser, Dr Dick van
der Meij and Rosemary Robson (BA Hons.) for copy-editing the
manuscript, and for the lay-out.
I am also very thankful to all the participants in the workshop
including those whose presentations are not part of this volume, but
who contributed positively to the discussions, namely Dr Han ten
Brummelhuis, University of Amsterdam, Dr Liao Susu, Beijing Union
Medical College, Dr Zhao Pengfei, Shanghai Family Planning
Research Institute, and Dr Lily Ling, The Hague Institute of Social
Sciences.
My sincere gratitude goes to the referees for their constructive
comments, which have been a source of reflection for the editor and
the contributors in this book. I thank all the contributors—those who
have been conscientiously revising their conference papers and those
who have joined us in the publishing phase. The final works
appearing in the volume, however, remain their personal views and
responsibility. Indeed, views expressed throughout the papers may
not be shared by the editor, and to some extent, the contents
developed remain the responsibility of the authors also.
I thank the European Science Foundation for its consistent financial
support for the research project and the conference and the NWO
(Dutch Foundation for Scientific Research) for the funding provided
for the conference. Finally, I am indebted to IIAS support for my
research activities as a European Science Foundation research fellow
viii
attached with IIAS (1998–2000) and as a long-term affiliated fellow
(2001–2002).
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
MARIE-EVE BLANC is currently an Associated Research Fellow at
IRSEA (Institute for Research on South-East Asia) of the CNRS
(French National Center for Scientific Research) in Marseilles, and a
Research Project Manager with ANRS funding (National Agency
for AIDS Research, France). She holds a PhD in Sociology from the
University of Provence (France). Her current project is about sexual
behaviours, knowledge and management of HIV/AIDS risk among
young urban Vietnamese men, and is carried out with POPCON
(Population Consultants) in Hanoi. She has been working with
ANRS since 1999. She presented papers at conferences and
published a number of articles on gender and health issues in the
context of Vietnamese culture. She co-edited Asian Societies
Confronted by AIDS, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2000 (in French).
ANNUSKA DERKS is a PhD Candidate in Anthropology at the
University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and currently holds a
teaching position at the Institute of Anthropology, University of
Bern, Switzerland. She has worked since 1995 as a research officer
for the Center for Advanced Study in Phnom Penh and as a
consultant for international organizations working on trafficking
and sex work in Cambodia. Among her publications are papers on
trafficking in Cambodia and Southeast Asia. Her forthcoming PhD
Moving Women, Moving Selves focuses on the complex interplay of
migration, gender, and identity in Cambodia.
CHRISTIAN HENRIOT (PhD) is Professor of Modern History at
Lumière-Lyon 2 University and Director of the Institut d’Asie
Orientale. His research interests cover Chinese urban history,
women’s history and the Sino-Japanese war. His major publications
in English are: Shanghai 1927–1937: Municipal Power, Locality, and
Modernization, Berkeley, The University of California Press, 1993;