INTERRACIAL LOVE IN DOUBAN
Reseach and images compiled by Selene Zhang and Katrien Jacobs
Douban.com (Chinese: 豆瓣; pinyin: Dòubàn), launched on March 6, 2005, is a Chinese social media website allowing registered users to create content related to film, books, music, as well as recent events and activities in Chinese cities. On March 8, 2005, a Group (小组) feature was introduced which allows people to create their own groups with specific interests. Some of these groups contain interracial sex diaries written and commented on by the Douban community, especially in a group called “Exotic love”, where women are sharing stories and pictures about their interracial encounters, relationships and sex lives. With titles such as “The Good boy from the Dating App”, “Why doesn't he contact me after one night stand?” and “Our daily life”, we can easily find women talking about their bodies, their partner’s bodies and other sex experiences.
In “Te amo”[1], Ali wrote a diary about her relationship from the very beginning of the encounter:
"Summer comes late in Chengdu. I’m 167cm tall and weigh 112 pounds. I don’t look good in my body. I met him when I was jogging around the campus. My future boyfriend, tall and fit, wearing a grey T-shirt, was walking towards me…While we were watching a movie, his fingers played with mine sexually…We kissed very hard on our second date…I was still a virgin and couldn’t get into the mood… We massaged each other on the bed and he pushed me very strongly…He also licked me awake during my sleep…"
Most of the sex diaries include detailed descriptions of such encounters and commitments. Chinese women are eager to disscuss their interracial relationships with an overwhelming sense of sweetness. One of the traditions of this group is to share photos and the group leader will make a collage of the photos for the group.
https://www.douban.com/group/topic/30084108/
But it seems that some of the group members also have a racist attitude as most of the male lovers are Caucasian while there are negative comments about darker skinned lovers. “I cannot understand why Indians can sleep around with their ugly faces”, Doris uploaded a story on March 1st, 2016, “I’m working in a restaurant. There’s an Indian waiter. In the beginning I thought that he would be good because he gave me a lift back to school sometimes. But later he told me he’s been sleeping with different Chinese girls or virgins and even made them pregnant. I can’t understand why he can sleep around so easily in China. He even asked me to go to his home and have sex with him!” The answer from Ms. To Doris is very interesting: “There’s are a big amount of Chinese women who have never been fulfilled by their Chinese men.” Maybe if these Chinese women would be more race-tolerant, they would post truly exotic love stories besides those typical Caucasian ones.
In february 2016 about 400 sex diaries in the “Exotic Love” group were censored. One woman was so upset about the deleted website since she was not allowed to log in any more, “My two other accounts have also been deleted because of my diaries”. Other girls complained also: “I want to read the sex diaries but they are all gone!”[2] Douban users have been particularly vulnerable to censorship by the Chinese government. A survey made by CCTV illustrated that 99% of the Chinese college students think douban.com is “erotic and violent”. One of the students was quoted saying that “There are so many sex diaries in the forum. My roommate browses douban.com every day and even touches himself.”[3]
But the answers from Douban supporters are also very powerful. “It is my hobby to discuss taboo topics in some specific groups,” stated Yezi, one of the earlier users of the website, “After discussing them, I become mentally satisfied. I never feel that pornography is vulgar. The real vulgar thing is on CCTV.”[4]
http://news.163.com/09/0210/08/51PEPTVI00011229.html
The censorship of Douban is ongoing and a famous case was reported in 2009 when Douban removed Renaisance art paintingson the grounds that they contained 'pornographic' elements.[5] This action led to a successful online campaign called "Portraits: Dress up" in which internet users were asked to dress up images of famous nudes from art history in a protest against Douban's censorship.The discussion about the campaign was then also removed by the administrators.[6]
[1] Ali, “在这里记录我们的点滴 te amo, ‘Erotic Love’ Douban Group, April 22, 2015, https://www.douban.com/group/topic/74483679/?author=1&start=0, Retrieved March 1, 2016.
[2] Summer, “真的好想看小黄文 可惜没有了”, ‘Erotic Love’ Douban Group, February 19, 2016, https://www.douban.com/group/topic/83821133/, Retrieved March 1, 2016.
[3] 貌似是愤青, “广电总局要灭豆瓣”, Sina Blog, http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_65d5dff50100hnw1.html, Retrieved March 1, 2016.
[4] 烨子, “没有1%，豆瓣就是另一个MOP――回应致豆瓣小组组长的一封信”, Douban, February 9, 2009, http://www.douban.com/note/26531184/, Retrieved March 1, 2016.
[5] “给大卫像穿衣 抗议政府封网”, BBC CHINESE, February 8, 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/simp/hi/newsid_7870000/newsid_7877400/7877462.stm, Retrieved March 1, 2016.
[6] “网友响应反低俗号召 给名画穿上’衣服’, NEWS 163, February 10, 2009, http://news.163.com/09/0210/08/51PEPTVI00011229.html, Retrieved March 1, 2016.
