Opinion | 'Submissions wanted,' says Guangzhou scholar seeking work on masturbation

The rules are simple: submit your videos, poems, plays, or songs that explore the topic of masturbation - and then wait until you hear about the reward.

With the top winner getting some10,000 yuan (HK$12,000) prize, those coming second, third and fourth will receive 5000, 3000, and 1000 yuan each in cash.

This isn’t a porn competition, according to Pei Yuxin, organiser and sociology professor at Guangzhou’s renowned Sun Yat-sen university. Instead,  the “New Media Contest on Masturbation” is a  serious project, which aims to  tap into the imagination of its research subjects.

If people do it, they should also feel free to talk about it, said Pei and her fellow researchers, who have abandoned more traditional methods like surveys which they found “restrictive.”  

With creativity listed as a major criteria, the poster also noted that all submissions “should be able to pass internet censorship and be proper material to circulate online.”