12:35 | Let's Write About Sex “There’s a lot of sex in literature. And, there’s a lot of interesting critiques of sexuality and the market in literature,” says Farrer. He discusses one book by Yu Hua that he’s read. One of the lead characters (an affluent businessman) keeps getting letters from women claiming to be virgins so he decides to hold a contest which he calls the "All China Virgin Beauty Contest." But, what ends up happening is that all the virgins start sleeping with the judges in order to win. One man even makes a fortune selling fake hymens. Of course, the woman who wins has slept with all of the judges and later loses the money when it’s discovered she’s actually a mother and not a virgin. It’s Yu’s way of using irony and humor to show the hypocrisy of moral politics, "but it's still a very traditional Chinese novel," says Farrer because it portrays the market culture and system as having corrupted traditional Chinese morality. “It’s a very Confucian moral tale,” Farrer concludes, though he clearly finds it an amusing read.

12:31 | Saved by the Bell One of the major noticeable differences is the social environment of high school, Farrer points out. Relationships while in high school are discouraged in China, but not in Japan. Students are encouraged to focus entirely on studying and actively discouraged from engaging in personal relationships. So, while Pan Cui Ming says people are free to go on and do what they want, the straightjacket of chastity and conceptions of sexual morality still persist.

12:29 | No One Wants to Eat a Leftover Dish Based on his discussions with students, Farrer foudn that the Chinese male students felt strongly about virginity, even if they thought they didn't, particularly the virginity of women. Some men thought that if they sleep with a woman and didn’t stay with her it would cause problems for her later with future partners, and felt responsible for her honor. Some felt they should want to marry the woman before sleeping with her. On man was quoted as saying, "No one wants to eat a leftover dish." Well that sums it up right there doesn't it? But, seriously, you test drive a car before you buy it right? We have some opinions on this one, strong ones, but we should probably leave it to Farrer. Interestingly, in his studies with Japanese students, he's found that they take a much more practical view of sex and virginity, feeling that viriginity is not a big deal, not some sign of virtue or a prize to be won.

12:26 | Conservative Students The most recent research Farrer has been doing has involved interviews with Chinese and Japanese students. He says that these two groups are very similar but that there is a noticeable difference when talking to them about sex. In Japan, 63 percent of men AND (interestingly for the first time) 63 of women claim to have had sex but in China the figures are only 32 percent and 28 percent respectively. “In China, interestingly, most of this happens in the last year of university and they have a lower rate of sexuality than those who are not students. Females in particular.”

12:23 | A/S/L "I want to talk about how this [sexual revolution] has happened. This kind of sexual revolution hasn’t happened as a kind of cultural politics,” says Farrer. The internet has precipitated the fast movement of sexual politics in China, providing a venue for people to fight for their sexual rights. We're reminded of Chinese friends regaling us with tales of sending flirtatious "smiles" and their elation at receiving them on some online dating site. Guess we should think twice before we condemn online dating for being, well, online dating. Farrer also feels that Chinese literature has pushed Chinese sexual politics as well.

12:20 | To the Races James Farrer is currently working on a book along with numerous other projects and studies focused on sexuality and youth culture in Japan and China. He begins his discussion by citing some of the findings of a study done by Pan Cuiming. Pan says, "You can say that by 2005 China’s sexual revolution has been completed." The crowd chuckles. Farrer too thinks this is a bit premature. Pan's study, centered on the period 2000-2006 claims that the number of Chinese people having premarital sex has increased (to 25 percent, ooh ... ah) and that significantly there is an increase of women and rural people within that group. Pan also says that premarital sex is becoming much more gender neutral and notions of virginity are becoming less important. Again, a chuckle. "I disagree with that," says Farrer. So do we James, so do we.

12:15 | One Little Word We stand chatting with Michelle and James Farrer prior to the start of the show. We point out to Michelle that all you have to do is throw the word 'sex' in the title and the whole room fills. She points this out to the crowd at the beginning as the session is about to begin. "You put 'sex' in the title and look what happens. 'Sex,' a glass of wine and people are out of bed at 11am on a Sunday morning."