BEIJING — China, a country roughly the size of the United States, with 1,321,851,888 citizens, and an ancient and impressive erotic history has decided that television is no place for anything sexual.Reuters reports that the Socialist government has declared all sexually frank television programming to be illegal, including those that discuss sex toys or contraception.
Prompting the move is the cancellation of popular but controversial reality show Beautiful Makeover, shot in the southern province of Guangdong and following medical teams that perform plastic surgery.
Additionally, any programming that involves “public participation” in sex change operations is also proscribed.
The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television’s website contains a strongly worded reprimand of provincial television stations located in the rural western city of Chengdu for airing footage deemed to be “lewd and obscene.”
“All levels of television broadcasters must not air any vulgar content involving sexual experiences or functions of sex toys and birth control devices, effective immediately,” SARFT ordered.
Claiming concern about sexism and prurient advertisements, the government recently instructed state broadcaster CCTV to get its advertisers under control. Viewers of Happy Boys Voice, a Chinese all-male knock-off of American talent show American Idol, have had segments depicting contestants in tears, with unorthodox hair styles, or singing “unhealthy” songs removed during its first scene.
Broadcasters have increasingly been warned to avoid material that includes “vulgarity” or “weirdness.”
