China breaks virgin terrain as its Sex and the City takes on taboo of gender roles
Christine Wei
Neil Connor
A DRAMA that has been called “China’s Sex and the City” has achieved surprise success after shining a light on modern women’s issues in a country where attitudes towards sex and gender roles are rarely dealt with on television.
Ode to Joy is breaking new ground by tackling subjects that are traditionally seen as taboo on Chinese television, such as sex, virginity and the range of challenges women face in male-dominated workplaces in China.
Glamorous and often provocative, the show explores the lives of five successful and attractive women aged in their 20s and 30s who live on the same floor of a Shanghai apartment complex called Ode to Joy.
The series, which is planning a third season, prompted widespread debate in China in May with an edgy storyline in which a boyfriend split up with one of the main characters after discovering she was not a virgin.
Such an issue may seem trivial in Eastenders or Coronation Street. However, the story touched a nerve with women across China who are often expected to take on particular roles in the socially conservative country.
Yuan Zidan, one of the screenwriters, said that Ode to Joy’s success was built on its ability to capture issues concerning love, relationships and careers that were affecting urban middle-class women, but have previously been neglected in Chinese media and entertainment.
“Ode to Joy is an attempt to portray the modern Chinese woman in China’s big cities through the lives of five women,” she said.
“The life they are leading, the problems they are facing represent ordinary Chinese women, and I believe this sense of reality is the most important aspect of Ode to Joy, and the reason for its popularity.”
Ms Yuan said that as Chinese society had become more liberal, it was more common for sex to be discussed by ordinary women, although it was still “rare” for programmes to tackle the subject.
The challenges that Chinese women face in the workplace are also rarely portrayed on domestic television. Traditional Chinese culture often hands women less of a say in family life, but attitudes are changing as divorce rates among younger couples soar.
In some Chinese provinces up to half of marriages between those who were born in the Eighties have broken up, state media has reported.
Fans of Ode to Joy – who are usually women – say the series has helped them become more assertive in their relationships and work.
Cheng Li, 27, a media worker from Beijing, said: “The programme sends a message to us that women should not have to give anything up just to please men.
“It helps that the lives of people in the series are based on ordinary women, but Ode to Joy is more dramatic, which is why it is one of my favourite shows.”