Jim Yardley of New York Times wrote a very good article on the phenomena of Mu Zimei: “Internet Sex Column Thrills, and Inflames, China.” The article explains not only how the Internet made this 25 years old sex columnist into a national controversy and celebrity, but also tells interesting details behind Sina’s promotion of Mu Zimei’s blog, and the government’s recent ban of Mu Zimei’s coming book.
I cannot help but link Mu Zimei with Du Daobin. Both of them have “fully expressed” themselves on Internet. Mu’s writing is about her private sex life, and Du’s is about his critique on public life, that is, politics. Mu is now a national celebrity while Du is in prison. Sex is promoted and politics is forbidden on Chinese cyberspace. Can we find a clearer indicator than these two cases?
