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21 Mar 2017 |
The 8th Hong Kong Sex Cultural Festival 2017: “Sexuality and Sports”
The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) and the Hong Kong Sex Education Association (HKSEA) join hands again this year to co-organize The 8th Hong Kong Sex Cultural Festival 2017 (HKSCF) at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC) in Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon during 24 -27 March 2017 (this Friday to next Monday). The theme is “Sexuality and Sports” (「性‧躍動 ─ 運動與性」).
Prof. Ng Man-lun, Founder of Hong Kong Sex Cultural Festival (HKSCF), said the HKSCF, a free public sexuality education event debuted in 2006, aimed to create a platform for open and respectful discussion about sex in a light-hearted atmosphere and to encourage enlightened reflection and exchanges on issues related to sex and sexuality in the society. This year, with the theme “Sexuality and Sports”, the Festival aims to explore the connections between sports culture and gender, sex culture and society, including taboos and sexist assumptions about sports and sexuality and their influence on modern people; and broaden our understanding of how these issues concern our everyday life, and allow participants the fun of exploring Hong Kong’s local sex cultures.
Prof. Ng pointed out that sports and sexuality might seem unrelated but were in fact inextricably linked. For example, the mandatory gender verification for female athletes in the history of the Olympic Games that had not been abandoned until 2000, the abstinence tradition among sports teams before games in power sports such as soccer, the society’s general perception of outstanding female athletes as being “masculine”, and the attention to female athletes’ physical appearance rather than their athletic achievements were just a few among many gender-based myths and prejudices.
Prof. Ng said, existing social constructs of masculinity and femininity in the sports arena played a key role in determining men's advantages in access, levels of participation and benefits from sports over women. While men dominate combat sports, women are encouraged to participate in non-combat sports which embrace body aesthetics. Moreover, exercise is beneficial to one’s sexual function and enhances the quality of sex life. Furthermore, Latin dances are now international competitive sports, with Rumba widely perceived as the most erotic and sensual form of Latin dances with explicit sexual overtones. The increasing acceptance of pole-dancing as a serious dance sport has elevated its status beyond being a porn entertainment.
Mr. Nevin Chan, FPAHK’s Education Officer and HKSCF Organizing Committee member, revealed the details of a series of exhibitions and forums in the 4-day Festival. The Opening Ceremony, to be held at 1:00 pm this Saturday (25March 2017), will be officiated by Mr. Alvin Yeung, Legislative Councillor, Prof. Ng Man-lun, Prof. Stanislaus Lai, Vice-President of HKSEA and Dr. Susan Fan, J.P., Executive Director of FPAHK, and complete with a singing/dancing performance by drag queen Coco Pop.
Six forums will be held on Saturday and Sunday (25-26 March). Speakers from different backgrounds will offer their different perspectives in discussion on issues related to sports cultures, sexuality and sexual health as follows:
- Gender in sports culture - Bodybuilder Siufung Law and Mr. Lo Chi-wai, registered coach of Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association
- Sports and sexuality - Prof. Ng Man-lun will discuss with Benita Chick, Co-chair of Hong Kong Bidding Team for Gay Games 2022, on the sports world’s acceptance towards LGBT athletes, and Dr Szeto King-Ho, Founder & CEO of Hong Kong Emergency Medicine Centre, on sports injuries and sexual health;
- Secret recipes to a healthy sex life from the medical and psychological health perspectives – by Dr. Kok Wai-ming of FPAHK and Dr. Anna Ng, sex therapist and Chairperson of Hong Kong Association of Sexuality Educators, Researchers & Therapists;
- Sexual health in Taoism by Taoist Priest Ip Cheung-ching; Yoga and sexual health by Dickson Lau, Founder and Chairman of Hong Kong Yoga Association and Yoga Alliance China;
- Sexual rights for people with disabilities - Clayton Lo, Editor and Co-author of “Love has no disability” and Dr. Matthew Yau, Founding Chair of Hong Kong Association of Sexuality Educators, Researchers & Therapists;
- A review of laws on sexual offences - Prof. Eric Cheung, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Joseph Cho, Executive Co-Director of Nutong Xueshe
The exhibitions will run for four consecutive days at JCCAC’s Gallery on the following five topics: Foods, drinks and behaviours that can spice up your sex life; Taboos, prejudices and myths in sports; How to prevent injuries to your sexual health from sports; Interesting little-known knowledges related to gender, health, cultures and sexual functions; Collection of personal stories of love and sex.
An “Online Survey on Sexuality and Sports”, which was conducted from 19 July to 29 December 2016 as part of the Festival, polled 1,071 respondents. Dr. Joseph Cho, also a member of the HKSCF P. 3 of 3 pages
Organizing Committee and the Executive Committee of HKSEA, said the survey found that 45.6% of the respondents said they did not exercise enough and 32% did not exercise at all. The top two reasons for not doing any exercise were “being too busy with work, academic studies or housework’’ (66.4%) and “lack of interest”（24.6%）. Most respondents (about ¾) agreed that spending too much time at work, academic studies or housework adversely affected their libido.
The survey also found that sex was chosen by 12.8% of the respondents as one of their regular forms of exercise, ranking the 5th among the most popular sports, following athletics, ball games, fitness exercise and aquatics respectively. Of all respondents, 30.2% were satisfied or highly satisfied with their sex life, while 33.1% found their sex life average. Those who chose sex as one of their regular forms of exercise were on average found to be more satisfied with their sex life.
All forums and exhibitions are free. All members of the public, especially youth, parents, teachers, social workers and families, are welcome. For details and updates (in Chinese only), please visit FPAHK’s Sexuality Education Website at www.famplan.org.hk/sexedu, Hong Kong Sex Education Association website at www.hksea.org and HKSCF Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/HKSCF.
From left: Dr.Joseph Cho, Prof. Ng Man-lun and Mr. Nevin Chan