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The intrapsychic and interpersonal scripts must be seen in the context of a larger cultural script which provides a generally accepted definition of what is “sexual” and what is not. On this basis, it then also explains the significance of “sexual” behavior, i.e. both its meaning and its importance. Most importantly, the cultural script determines if - and how closely - gender role behavior, erotic behavior, and reproductive behavior should be linked. In some cultures, the linkage is rather loose; in others it is very tight. For example, certain cultures insist that the gender roles should be clearly defined in contrast to each other, that erotic behavior should be restricted to intercourse between females and males, and that this intercourse should always serve the purpose of reproduction. Other cultures are less strict. They consider erotic and reproductive behaviors to be separate issues and therefore also allow same-sex relationships.
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All of this means, of course, that the study of sex, i.e. sexology, is also, in both form and content, shaped by the culture in which it is undertaken. Indeed, “sex” is itself a cultural construct. It is not something real and definite “out there”, but an intellectual concept reflecting particular cultural concerns. It is a projection of scientists with a certain frame of mind, and it comes into sight only from a special point of view. Studying “sex” therefore means, above all, studying the sexual ideology in a particular society at a particular time.
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