228 H 1111w11 sl'x 11ality

with th e birth of th e man 's first child. Thus, rh e birrh o f a child is the
marker for full adul thood.

ADOLESCENT SEXUAL BEHA VIOR:

ON1NDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES

The Sambi a initiation ceremony provi des an excell en t examp le fo r begin -

ning o ur discus io n of ado le cent exu a lity in nonindu srriali zed counrries
an d a mo ng indigeno u peopl , . A we ha ve seen , the Sambian mal e's first
experien es invo lving th geniralia are as fellators fr om about age seven
tluongh age four tecn. At fi ftcen year ld, they th en move into a new stage
(tbe tbird tage in rheir ini tiatio n ) w here th ey can experi ence sexual o ml ets
fo r the fust tim e (other tha n wer drea ms ). Prior to this they were pre ven-
red from doing o . [n this phase th cy become the bac helor recipienrs of
fe ll ati o . Th e in senúna ror pha e i a vcry pl ea ma hle o ne fo r the bachclo rs.
From a bou t rhe ages of filtecn to eighreen the third stage in the in itia tion,
there is no o_pponun ity of imera t io n wi th fema les, a lrho ugh it i a period
of vig ro us exua l activ iry far the bac hel or ins eminators . This is a phase
in w hicb males experience "profo un homoerotic pleasures" (Herdt and
Sroller, 1989: 33· Herdt 2006 : 115) . The inseminator role moves \Vith
rh em as tb ey ta ke n a new staru a s newlywed in the fourth srage of
rheir in itiation (th ey do not ·o ha bit with their wi es), but comin ue their
behavi or as insemin ators with boys. l t is not until the men enter the fifth
stage of initiation in th eir late teens and after their wives ha ve ex perienced
menarche th at rhey are allowed to ha ve genital sex with their wives (H erdt ,
2006: o, 119).
T his ca e lea rl y point r rhe difference between sexu al behavi o r a mi
exual ocientatio n. The Sa mb ia initia ti o o cercmony i a n irnpo rta nt ve.bid ·
for ex ed u a tio n faci lita ting th e young man s transitio n coa heterosexual
li fes ryle. The bac helor in emi nator w ho e pr im ary exua l experi ence is
hornoeroti , i g rad ua lly hi fted in to ch e tatu o f newlywed wluch a ll ows
him to make the transition in sex uality by going th.rough a bisexual ph as
According to H rdt: " (t]he customary first sexua l interc ur e between
spo uses is fella tio" usually ra king place in rb e late teens or earl twent ies
(Herd t, 198 7: 164; H erdt, 2006: 117). Cu ltura ll y- haped sexua l practi e
help ease th e ma le into hi s change of lifestyle fro m bachelor in emi nator
ro that of new lywed and married man. Th e aew lY"v d bride is given sexu-
ality instrnction durin g her menarche initiation (at aro und the same time
as the rnen's fifth stage initiation ). Shc is given directi on on h w to dress
in such a way rhat sbe re emble the yo ung in itiates in appearance for her
first sexu a l. enco unrer wi tb her hu, band. T be bride covers her breasts a nc\
wears a noseplug ·imila r to that of the young male that are the fellat-
o rs. 'The bride's stmilarity ro tb e bovs in ap peara nce and th e fe lla tio she
perform on her husband thu help to provi de a n erotic bridge between
 Ptth1'1't)' ,md L1dolesce11ce 22 9
rh e h. moerotic and hetero exuaJ lifestyles " (H erdt, 198 7: 165; Herdt,
2006 : 11 8) . H erdt's re ear h on the Sambia challenges clinical th eories
rhar eady hom osexual exper ien e invari ably lead to later adult homo-
sexual behavior (Sc hlege l and Barry, 1991: 10 9) . In addition, Herdt's work
interroga te the very co ncept o f hornos x uality as a Euro-American culture-
bo und o ia l identity contextualized in time a nd space; hence bis use of the
re rm boy-insemina ting rites in th e seco nd edition of hi s book ra th er rhan
" in stitutio na li zed horno exuality" (H erdt, 2006: xv).
The Samb ia are a fa ci natlng exam pl e o f nonindu striali zed sex uality a s
it is experi enced in ado lescence and into youn g adulthood. Male-fema le
relati ons a re part of a well-reported phenomen on of sex antagonism in
rhi p articula r area of New Guinea . Women are rega rded as potentially
dangero us because of their abilíty to pollute and deplete men of their
einen. Wives were acq uired by politica lly mo tivated and arranged mar-
dage . Beca use they ca.me from ou t ide the group (exogarny ), th ey can never
be completely trusred. Whil c th e a rranged marriages may help creare a lli-
ances, they are a l o potentia Uy disruptive beca use a t any tim e the brid e's
farnil y mi ght hecorn e enemies. Warfare pl ays an integral part in Sambia
homoerotic as well as heterosexual beha viors (Herdt and Stoller, 1989:
32). Keep in mind that our concepts of homoerotic, bisexual, and hetero-
sexu al are in the context of our industriali zed ex perience. Th e Samh ia do
not have categories anal ogo us to o urs. Thei r hetero sexua l, homoerotic, a nd
bisex ual behavior is o bviously vastly different fro m the industrialized o ne
and cannot be translated into our indu striali zed clinical anc\ homophobic
perspective (Francoeur and N oonan, 2004: 814; H erdt and Stoller, 19 89:
31-34; H erdt, 2006 : xv, xxii; Ol ive-Miller, 2004 ).
Turning now to our more general topic of pubescent and adolescent sex u-
ality cross-culturally, we need to point out that young men and women may
experience exuali ty a r di ffe rent age . For example, among the T iw i, adol es-
cen t women ha ve ex with po ta do lescent men, not men of their own ages
(Hart, PiUing and Gooda le 1988 ). Age of marriage is an impo rtant variabl e
to cons ider in e sex may occur in tbe conrext o f pr emarital, ma rita l, and/or
ex trarnarita l sexual behavio r. In countri es in which individual s marry late,
such as Singapor e where women marry a t 24 .4 yea rs o ld , the premarital sex
peri od ma y extend into the twentie s. M any o f the studies of p re marital sex
in indu stria lizing nation s target studenrs as the research population so the
ages may span both teens as well as th e early twentie s. Co nversely, ma r-
ital sex may al so include the puhescent age gro ups since in ma ny societies
people who marry in their teens may be rega rded as adults. Marriage in
most traditional soci eries ends ado lescence as a cultural stage (Schl ege l and
Ba rry, 1991 : 109 ). In 74 percent of fort y soci eti es, mal es marry at eight-
een years o r o lder and in 69 percent of forty-fiv e soci eties femal es marry
at sev enteen or yo unger. Cross-culturall y, the modal age of male ma rri<1ge
is eighteen to twenty-one years o ld and for fem ales it is twelve to fifreen
years old. M en tend to be older than th eir wives a t firs t marriage, a nd
230 Ht//Jhl/l SCXthllity

hence experience premarital rules for a longer period of time. However,

it is important to remember that males generally have greater access to a
double standard that allows them more premarital sexual freedom (Frayser,
1985: 208; Lewin, 2006: 10; Ward and Edelstein, 2006).
The meaning premarital sex has for industrialized countries is not neces-
sarily convergent with that in other societies. The cross-cultural research
may also ha ve embedded ethnocentric assumptions. For example, data from
the H1111'lL111 Relatimzs Arca Files biases the definition of premarital sex by
focusing on heterosexual pende-vaginal intercourse. The degree to which
premarital sex among youths is approved of, disapproved of, and even con-
demned will vary cross-culturally as well. Despite the diversity, ali cultures
have rules regarding sexual relations with appropriate partners. A variety
of factors interact and are related to these mies surrounding premarital sex.
Societal approval of premarital sex is related to the type of social organiza-
tion, population density, subsistence ami resource patterns, ali of which are
directly related to the status of women (Ember, Ember and Peregrine, 2005;
Manderson, Bennett, and Sheldrake, 1999; Martín and Voorhies, 1975).
However, sexual attitudes and behaviors are not static, and vary over time
and within populations by ethnicity, generation, and class as a result of
culture contact, or culture change brought on by colonialism, missioniz-
ation, escalating capitalism, and globalization (Herdt, 1999; Mascia-Lees
and Black, 2000). Relevant also to this discussion is the role of adolescent
sterility and cultural attitudes toward children conceived outside marriage.
Sexuality and its cultural regulation are related to gender statuses and are
rooted within specific social-strnctural systems, cultural and temporal con-
text as well as articulated with symbols and meanings (Nlanderson, Bennett
and Sheldrake, 1999).
Although the HIV/AIDS epidemic has amplified anthropological interest
in how youths experience their sexuality from the subjective to the eth-
nographic and the international (Herdt, 1999), Ford and Beach's (1951),
classic work in the codification of cultures as restrictive and permissive
based on a massive review of 190 different societies continues to provide
us with a useful approach in describing adolescent sexuality. Their cross-
cultural perspective has been refined and continues to be an important
source for understanding how and why adolescent sexuality is structured.
Most notable in this genre is the work of Schlegel and Barry ( 1991) dis-
cussed later in this chapter. Again, this model of ideal types represents what
in actuality is a continuum. Ford and Beach recorded fourteen very restrict-
ive societies in which children are prevented from sexual expression and
acquiring sexual knowledge. However, sex with the onset of puberty is
allowed for girls in ten restrictive societies, and for boys in one; the Haitians.
"For the most part these peoples seem particularly concerned with the pre-
pubescent girl, believing that intercourse before menarche may be injurious
to her" (Ford and Beach, 1951: 18). In the rnajority of the African societies
studied by Ford ami Beach, boys were prevented from having sex before
 r

Puberty a11d adolescence 231

their initiation ceremonies. In sorne societies rules against sex after puberty
may remain re tricted or may actually be intensified. To restrict premarital
sex among young people, societies will:

• separare the sexes;

• chaperone fernales; and/or
• negatively sanction premarital sex (Ford and Beach, 1951: 182) .

Of these measures the first is the most successful, while the third has not
provento be a deterrent to the highly motivated youngster (Ford and Beach,
1951: 183-184 ). One of the means restrictive societies use to ensure control
of youngsters' sexuality is by pl a inga value on fernale virginity. Sorne may
even ha ve tests of this virginity rhrough demonstrations of bloodied cloth or
defloration ceremonies (Ford and Beach, 1951: 186, also Delaney, 1991).

Virgi11ity testing has !Jeen initú1ted among the Kw,1Z11lu-Nat,1l in South

Africa as l1 w,1y to preue11t HIV. Virgi11ity testing of girls from six ye,Jrs old
to marriagellble Llge is supported by mothers a11d grandmothers to fJreue11t
,md curb "sexual licentio11s11ess." Externa! ge11it,1l exams and inspections
are publicly performed by uilfoge women ll'IJO use the s,1111e latex glove for
each exam, mzd who the11 grade the girls 011 their degree of 11irgi11ity. Girls
wlw " pass" are cheered and giuen a certificate; girls who "fail" are publicly
shamed. Anthropologist S11zmme LeClerc-Madlala notes tlwt this practice,
while not traditio11al to the group in its present form, 11pholds deeply held
patri<1rclwl uiews abo11t wome11's worth and sexuality among the Zulu.
LeClerc-M,1dfola dismsses the potential he,1/th risks, false sense of security
that derive from p,1ssi11g the exam, the dou!Jle standards about sex . and the
mlturally-stmctured beliefs about female sexuality th11t exist among this
group. Boys are 11ot tested since "they wouldn ·' t come anyway, '' and '\ire
like animals; they cmz't control themselves" (LeClerc-Madlala, 2001: 457).
These practices c,m foster the spread of HIV since they reinforce larger uiew
,1bo11t disease, blm11e, cmd women as vectors of tra11smissio11" (Whelehmz.
in press).

In sernirestrictive societies, there may be formal proscriptions directed at

teenage premarita l sex but rhese are not regarded as seriou offenses. Pr -
hj itions against premarital sex for females speci:fically occu.r in twelve
societies, for older children in two , while sanctions again t both sexe are
found in thirty-four s cieties (Ford and Beach ] 951: 187). Forty-th.ree
societies are classified a permi ssiv in wbich there are no gen der-specific
restrictions on premarital sex:ua l expres ion; the o nly restrictions regard -
ing e mality are those around incest, w hich would be expected (Fo rd ru1d
232 Hzn11m1 sex11L1!ity
Beach 1951: J90). Of the e forry-three societies tl1ere are three pemu ·íve
cieri s rhar alJ w coi tus for adolescem boys only th Crow, iriono and
Tongans· one s ciery rhat allow premarira l permissivenc for girls only
the Thonga ( frica); and one that lirnits pennissivcness to rhe conunoner
las, the auruan . Ac ording ro Ford and Beach (1951: 190): '[b]y rhe
rime of puberry in most of these lpeani sivc] cietie expressions of sexu-
a lity on rhe part of older children on i t predominan tl y of the accepte 1
adulr forrn of heterosexual imercourse rhe _pattern wbich rbey will e nrinue
to follow throughout rbeir sexually active )'Car of life" (Ford and Beach,
J 951: 190).
Though Ford a nd Beach documenred rhe variation .in ad le cent sexa-
aliry orher anrhropologi ts have l cen inr rested in explanations asking
guesrion u h as how social rructure inf:luence premarita l sex norm .
chlegel and Barry's Adolescence: A11 Anthropological lnquiry (1991) con-
tinues ro be a valuable campas in rhi rcgard. A summary of some of
their ñading and review of rhe re earch is pre nred to illu t rate how
ocio-cultural features pattern sexual behavi r ( h legcJ and Barry 1 91:
l09-l21).

• For both sexes, adolescent permissiveness is relatecl to the a bs ence of a

dou ble standard.
• Adultery for women and men is frequent in societies that are permissive
for adolescent sexuality.
• Pre.marital exual pennissiveness for females is asso iated with impler
ubsisten technologies abse nce of strarificarion mallcr e mmunir-
ies matrilinea l descent, matri local residence ab ence of belief in bigh
god , absence of bride s wea lth high female economic ontriburioa
little or no pr perty cxchange at marriagc and ascrib d rather than
achieved ta tus, an evaluation of girls posirion a equal or higher thru1
boys'.

GENERAL TRENDS IN NONINDUSTRIALIZED

AND INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES

A mentionec.I ear li er, conccrn for AIDS has resulred in an increa e in

research on rhe subject of ex, including exual behavior among youch in
co untries such as Thailand the Philippine Taiwan Hong Kong, Sri Lanka
.Ja pan, Malaysia, Micronesia and Mela ne ia (Bcnnett aud h ldrak 1999·
Mander on Bennett and heldrake 1999; Sittitrai, l : º173-190). Tl1e e
countries have expcrienced a growth In tl1e u·an rnission of AIDS from
other areas rbrough immigration and rourism (see Chapter 15). Unfortu-
nat ly, our indu trialized heteroer tic bias has focu ec.1. priniarily on ma le
population and betero exual behavior (Sirritrai 1990: 177).