Dr Shere Hite, renowned US researcher on sexuality and gender, received a less than warm response from college students at Renmin University in Beijing where she delivered a lecture on Wednesday (Nov 30).

Hite's talk centered on the female orgasm and sexual paradigms, and gave an introduction to her pioneering 1970s studies on women's experience of sex.

The lecture hall was packed with more than 400 students eager to hear Hite's insights on sexuality but many appeared dissatisfied with what they heard.

Wang Xuejuan, a sociology student at Renmin University said that she was already familiar with much of the information presented by Hite, thanks to the Internet.

"Her 1970s studies seem a bit dated today," she added. Pan Suiming, director of the Sexual Sociology Research Institute of Renmin University said that Hite's theories are sound and true and thus the insights they bring will never be out of date. Students listened politely as Hite spoke, and many asked questions afterwards.

Lives Changed

Women's lives, says Hite, have changed enormously over the last quarter century. Women who want to go into business mostly prefer to start their own enterprises, perhaps lacking the confidence to take up the reins of power at major institutions.

"The social system is stacked against women but in part that exists in people's heads. Should we become more like men, more aggressive, harder? Or should we take female qualities and use them at work istead?" she asked.

She suggested that women with a sound grasp of basic sexual knowledge and open minds on sexual issues should set up an organization in the university to promote understanding of sexuality.

Hite said her reason for writing about female sexuality was that she thought women should have a chance to speak out. "It is really the time in China for women to stand up and ask for what they want."

Female Sexuality

Hite is probably most familiar as the author of several Hite's Sex Report, the first of the kind was published in 1976. The report laid out her extensive research showing that most women orgasm more often and more easily from clitoral stimulation, and that "problems of the female orgasm" were not actually inherent to women but due to a narrow definition of sex that discriminates against women's experiences.

Hite based this first Report on responses to more than 100,000 anonymous questionnaires answered by women from age 14 to 78, 3,000 of which were included in the published report.

Although her research was criticized for poor statistical work and lack of certain demographic information, as the first major study expressing women's dissatisfaction with their sexual lives it had a profound impact.

Hite Reports have now been published for 45 countries. China's first such report came out in 1998. Ma Xiaonian from the Chinese Sex Research Institute said that the Chinese Hite Reports' have sold over 50,000 copies to date.

Hite arrived in Beijing last week, and would fly to Shanghai to give another lecture. She had not thought about this visit to China in terms of changing prevailing attitudes to sexuality.

"I have discussed this with local researchers, and I still feel the Chinese people are not keen to talk about sexual issues," she said.

Editor: Wing