Growing Up Sexually

CAJUNS (North-American Natives)

More: Arapaho, Assiniboine, Athabascans, Blood/ Blackfoot, Cherokee, Chipewyans, Apache Chiricahua, Comanches, Crow, Dakota, Flathead, Gros Ventre, Hopi, Huron, Ingalik, Copper Inuit, Iñupiat, Iroquois, Kaska, Kiowa-Apache, Klamath, Kwakiutl, Lakota, Mohave, Mantagnais / Naskapi, Navajo, Nootka, Ojibwa, Omaha, Point Barrow, Pomo, Powhatans, Qipi, Quinault, San Ildefonso, Shoshone, Shuswap, Sioux, Tinglit, Ute, Walapai,Yokuts, Yurok, Zuñi

Tentchoff (1977:p105-6)^{^[1]}^[116] speaks of the double standard in the Louisiana community”:

“Traditionally and ideally Cajuns and black Creoles expect women to be virtuous and “pure”, to be virgins at the time of marriage, and to be faithful to their husbands. Young girls are traditionally kept close to the family hearth and chaperoned to dances where a watchful eye is kept on them at all times. Adolescent boys and men, on the other hand, are expected to be sexually active. Adolescents (whom I had an opportunity to observe) brag about their exploits with girls (always, they claim in other villages or in town). They may swagger as they recount their adventures and laugh at the suggested use of contraceptives”.

Ancelet (1991)^{^[2]}^[117]:

“In Acadian [now Nova Scotia], life courtship and marriage were usually a matter for teenagers. Sexual mores were strictly governed by the church law and by mothers. Young girls were almost always escorted to places of courtship, like dance halls, by their parents or at least by an older brother or uncle, who diligently chaperoned the maiden’s honor. A young boy with serious intentions had to make official visits to the family home, usually on Sunday afternoon, to negotiate with the young girl’s father. Couples were almost never left alone until well into their courtship, and even then only in a quasi-public place like the front porch swing”.

Janssen, D. F., Growing Up Sexually. VolumeI. World Reference Atlas. 0.2 ed. 2004. Berlin: Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology

Last revised: Sept 2004