After an evening of flirtatious smiles, stomach butterflies and sweaty palms, she asks, “Do you have…?” He nods. With one hand, he reaches over to the bedside table and shakes the blue-red cardboard box until a a string of crackling plastic squares fall o
After an evening of flirtatious smiles, stomach butterflies and sweaty palms, she asks, “Do you have…?” He nods. With one hand, he reaches over to the bedside table and shakes the blue-red cardboard box until a a string of crackling plastic squares fall out – condoms.
Condoms have become a standard part of many young people’s sex life in China. Photo: BuzzFeed
Condoms, an easy to use and widely accessible form of contraception, have become a standard part of young people’s sex life.
Chinese have always been suspicious of oral hormonal contraception. The societal shift from traditional family planning to sexual wellbeing is instead made visible by the trendiness of the condom. But sex education still has a long way to go.
No longer embarrassed
For Ning Ke and his girlfriend, using condoms is already the case. The 20-year-old mechanical engineering student fancies the condom brand Durex. “I searched on Google to find the best brand. Most of the answers said Durex, and it truly did a good job,” Ning told the Metropolitan.
Since the government decided to promote the use of condoms, the market has exploded. According to China Market Research Reports, a database of selected reports on Chinese industries, annual condom output grew from 1 billion in 1995 to 18 billion by the end of 2016. Not all of them are used domestically; a portion is exported, and China also imports from abroad.
Photo: Pinterset
Free condoms
Condoms, used correctly, are an effective form of contraception and help protect against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
The government lifted its ban on condom advertisement in 2014. Also, according to a report published in the Chinese magazine Modern Advertising in the same year, the Chinese government purchases 1.2 billion condoms every year and distributes them among the population.
However, the government’s free contraceptive service is neither well-known nor well received by everyone. Availability does not automatically lead to actual use.
The government’s free contraception service does not appeal to the younger generation in China Photo: The Telegraph
Xu Jing, 24, who works in international trade, prefers to pay for her prophylactics. “I doubt that free condoms are safe. Condoms are cheap anyway. Let’s pay for it,” she said.
Her opinion reflects the ‘condom gap’ between the younger and older generation. While the parents of children born in the 80s and 90s were looking for something safe and long-term to prevent a second pregnancy, today’s youth have different expectations. Used to consumerism, they don’t mind spending a little pocket money for a fancy brand of condoms.
Photo: StyleCaster
No pill, no problem
A country well-known for its family planning policy, China’s contraception is quasi state-prescribed, targets married couples and tends to be long-term.
However, condoms are not the favorite choice of contraception among the older generation. A 2015 UN survey of married women in China found that IUDs and female sterilization were among the most popular contraception methods with 39.9 and 28.2 percent respectively.
According to the UN survey, in the US, female sterilization also ranked first with 21.8 percent, followed by birth control pills with 16 percent. In Europe, the use of oral contraception is even more widespread, reaching 49.9 percent in Portugal and 39.5 percent in France.
Photo: inviTRA
Lack of knowledge
Almost 80 percent of 21-year-olds living in large cities are estimated to have sex before getting married, according to Daxue consulting, a market research and management consulting firm that focuses on the Chinese market.
The only issue with this new development is that sex education still lags behind in China. Zhao Jing, a sex expert, knows this problem very well. She founded an app called Yummy where women can discuss everything related to sex and female pleasure, regardless of the sexual orientation. “One of the frequently asked questions on Yummy is how to prevent pregnancy,” Zhao said.
Photo: Fitness Magazine
But the knowledge gap is decreasing, and more Chinese are using a condom as a healthier form of contraception. The average Chinese living in large cities aged 20 to 30 uses 6.5 condoms a month in 2014, according to Chinese business information.
Sex education in China, although still not enough, is improving. This year, a set of sex education books published by Beijing Normal University went viral online. Some say the book is too blunt, but it sold out on many online stores including Tmall and JD.com.
Photo: christianitymalaysia.com
Also, as premarital sex becomes the norm among China’s increasingly open youth, shopping for condoms at the convenience store around the corner isn’t such a problem anymore, and it’s a good sign.
“For my friends and I, it’s very common to buy from public places,” Xu said nonchalantly. “It’s like buying sanitary pads. Why be embarrassed?”
