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According to the U.K. Register, “20,000 Chinese regularly log on to chat rooms completely stark bollock naked.”

Since, on the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog in the buff, this doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. But wait: these 20,000 bare-skinned Chinese surfers (the article doesn’t explain how the number was determined) are actual exhibitionists, with webcams and dirty minds. This worries Chinese authorities, who fear that “baring one’s body to strangers will have negative consequences on a youngster’s personal growth.”

(Side note: Who said anything about youngsters? It’s the fingerwaggger’s favorite fallback from Boston to Beijing: if you don’t like it, try to get rid of it by implying that the well-being of children is at stake.)

Anyway, Wired columnist Regina Lynn is not convinced that China ought to crack down on online cracks. She points out that China has 15 million more males than females between the ages of 5 and 20. For every 100 Chinese baby girls, there are almost 120 baby boys. That’s a lot of raging hormones in the making. Lynn believes that the Internet could take care of a lot of sexual needs, if only the Chinese government would look the other way and let a thousand flowers bloom:

China might not like it, but the internet gives those men a chance to flirt and build relationships with women outside their immediate environment — even outside the country. I’m not sure tradition or prejudice can stop the collective libido of 15 million young men. Even if international relationships aren’t a realistic option for most people, online relationships certainly are. Face it. When your chances of settling down with the girl next door are limited by the number of rivals for her attention, where else are you going to go? We have a basic human need for sex and love, both of which can blossom online. That intimacy is more compelling than porn could ever be.

It’s a good point.

Personally, I’m not looking for intimacy on the Internet. But sometimes it finds me, as careful observation of this eBay auction picture revealed.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 19th, 2005 at 4:18 pm by Rogier van Bakel and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.