By Scarlett Chiang Ching-man

02009307@hkbu.edu.hk

THE lecture theatre is seldom full. This time, all the seats are occupied. Students are sitting on the stairs. Some people even come in to see if there is any more space for them.

The sex course Issues of sexual deviance is a very popular in City University of Hong Kong. Sexual deviance is the phenomenon labelled by society as abnormal sex value under the moral judgment. The examples are sadomaschoism (SM), trading sex and homosexuals.

Erotic movies, photographs of naked bodies, patients suffering from venereal diseases, and, sex between human and animal are shown on the big screen in the lecture theatre. Prostitutes, SM shop owners and transsexuals are the guest speakers. Students voice their opinions and ask the guest speakers questions. “Nothing couldn’t be shown (in the lesson) ,” says the lecturer of the course, Dr Alex Kwan.

He proposed the sexual deviance course to the university four years ago because he thought students were too narrow-minded about sex. He points out teenagers are curious about sex but they dare not ask about it. He feels that this phenomenon is dangerous because not all youngsters can interpret the sex knowledge they get from media correctly. “It’s like a child who might plunge to the floor with a red cloth after he saw Superman cartoon,” he says.

“Why can’t we use academic angle to study sex? Why must we use moral standard to criticise the abnormal behaviour?” Dr Kwan says. He believes it is important to let students know different things in the university. He also thinks that people cannot judge something correctly without having any basic knowledge. He does not want his students to judge someone by the superficial facts only.

The aim of the course is to allow students to explore what they think are deviant sexual behaviours. “People are subjective towards the sex attitude. But nothing is absolutely right or wrong,” Dr Kwan emphasises. He invites the “deviant” guests to share their beliefs and logic. “After listening to their views, students can choose their best way to understand the deviant phenomenon,” he says.

He hopes they will understand the phenomenon, not condemning it or prejudicing against people.

His idea is very simple: we should understand others before making criticism and respect others for their differences.

It is not easy to understand the concept in six months, but students learn something more than respect. “It broadens my views about sex,” says Cheung Chun-ho, who finished the course last semester.

He says he was very narrow-minded before he took the course. But now, he could accept some behaviours he had never imagined. “I learn about the causes of the sexual deviant behaviour and how people feel in the situations.”

Dr Kwan admittes [i.e. admits] there are some complaints about the course materials. Some students think that the pictures are too disgusting. But he insists not to make changes because “sexual deviance” is a complementary course. He tells The Young Reporter that students can drop it if they cannot accept the contents. There are black-and-white warnings on the handout.

He says it is their choice. “You can’t go to a Sichuan restaurant and order a very spicy food and then complain about it,” he says briskly.

Kent Chan, a student studying the course, describes it as special and new. He takes the course because it is highly related to his major, social work. “I want to broaden my knowledge. I want to learn some abnormal phenomenon because that is what I might come across in the future,” he says. “This is a good course because it makes us become more open- minded. I partly learn how to understand the deviant sex.”

In response to the pornography, he feels that some pictures are really disgusting but he thinks it is acceptable. However, girls feel embarrassed looking at pictures like human having sex with animal.

Wing Liao is one of the girls who think that some pictures are not acceptable. She said with a frown, “I can’t accept watching people eating feces. And I feel unhappy to look at the sex organs so closely. It is a bit sickening.” She does not think that she understands the sexual deviant phenomenon. “I know more about it but I still think the behaviour is not acceptable.”

Edited by Christine Hung Wai-shan