Growing Up Sexually

|GUI / ||GANA (KALAHARI; NAMIBIA)

Index →Africa→Namibia→|Gui / ||Gana

Also featured : Bergdama, Nama, !Ko, !Kung, Herero

“Until the 1970’s, girls who had not had her menarche often used to have “fiances” recommended by their parents. In some cases girls lived together with their fiancés even before their menarche. Intercourse with girls before menarche is regarded just as “useless and harmless,” so it is not prohibited. In their society, it does not matter if a woman is a virgin or not. The rite for marriage was held in the process of the ritual for menarche. […] Recently, most of the women marry a few years after their menarche, so that the

rite for menarche is regarded as completely separated from the one for marriage” (Imamura, 2001:p132)[1].

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

Last revised: Sept 2004