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The Sexual
Curriculum (Oct., 2002) [to
Volume
II Index] [to
Main
Index Page] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [I] [II] [III] [IV] Janssen,
D. F. (Oct., 2002). Growing Up Sexually. Volume II: The Sexual
Curriculum: The Manufacture and Performance of Pre-Adult Sexualities.
Interim Report. Amsterdam, The Netherlands II [next Appendix]
[previous
Appendix] Ethnographic Coverage of
Early "Sexual" Behaviour Development and Socialisation.
An Impression
Summary:
This Appendix
provides a rough outline of ethnographers' tendencies to cover sexual
developmental issues. The extent of this coverage is specified using numeric indications
as provided by cross-cultural studies; this is followed by a focal critique of
this type of studies. Ethnographer's coverage in a qualitative sense is
explored via a rough historical appraisal, and further by a discussion of
selected problems in descriptive material encountered in the current study. Contents [up]
Ethnographic Coverage of Early "Sexual" Behaviour
Development and Socialisation. An Impression II.2.1 Extent of Coverage: Selected
Numeric Observations on Prepubertal Sexuality
II.3.1 Rough Historical
Considerations II.3.2 Selected Problems in
Descriptive Accounts II.1 General Observations [up] [Contents] Coverage of the "sexual" life "cycle"
has been a more or less institutional item in American ethnography. A number of
ethnographic series routinely included a chapter on the life cycle, but these
appear rather variable in their integration of the sexological compartment. At
times, marriage seems to follow birth, or puberty does. Authors of all times
have claimed a considerable degree of freedom in their limitation criteria in
describing what is taken to be the sexual socialisation curriculum. One can
only suspect that the evident infrequence and the scarcity of data on the
childhood age curriculum are due in some indeterminable degree to personal choice
and ideology not inherent to native ideologies. This seems to be a fundamental
problem within general sexological coverage in ethnography. It makes the
interpretation of inter-observer differences a complicated matter, especially
when observations are temporally and spatially segregated. Contrary to
adolescent courtship, pre-adolescence rarely is described as a period of institutional sexuality, be it not for
marriage; where it is patterned, it is likely to be designated "adolescent"
even despite its commencing place before puberty. Photographic instances of infant or
childhood sexual expression in academia are rare[1],
so one is limited to descriptive material. Children's Eros in "adult" prose
seems also to be a relatively infrequent phenomenon[2],
so that the body of literature suffers the limitation of academic
representations. This also seems to limit the clues to culturally specific
arguments on growing up within an erotic framework (polity, economy) to
ethnographers' communications on the matter. American culture has studied its
childhood sexualities rather extensively but never, it seems, without a
secondary agenda, and rarely with the hypothetical objectivity of ethnography. II.2 Numeric Coverage [up] [Contents] II.2.1 Extent of Coverage: Selected Numeric Observations on Prepubertal Sexuality [up] [Contents] The
following chapter roughly explores the extent
of (English-language) ethnographic coverage of "sexual socialisation" items via
a numeric approach. Hypothetically, the quality of ethnographic coverage on the
sexual life span can be measured by its including specific data on prepuberty.
Specific chaptering of this part of the life cycle is rare[3].
This appears to be author-related in some cases (e.g., Tessmann), but mostly it
seems to be suggestive of the phenomenon's public nature, that is, its entering
public discourse or display. (1) (e)HRAF.
The Human Relations Area File (1937),
presently also in electronic form (eHRAF,
2002, covering a current selection of 90 societies, presently[4]
including 431 matches in 138 documents for 64 societies in category 864, Sex Training) contains no separate
categories on early "sexual" behaviour, socialisation or cognition; the
inclusions focus on data for childhood/ adolescence/ puberty. Given the
all-inclusive character of the OCM code[5],
HRAF as well as eHRAF identifications tend to be pluriform, at times incomplete,
and at other times debatable. The full extent of HRAF coding of category 864
could not be established[6];
eHRAF data are updated annually. Using 75 selected HRAF societies, Whiting and
Child found "sexual satisfaction potential"
(SSP) to be measurable for 17 societies in the case of "masturbation", for 26
in the case of "heterosexual play", and for a further, unidentified small
amount in the case of "homosexual" (same-sex) behaviour. (2) Ford
and Beach rated only a selection of societies (94/190) on the basis of
socialisation severity by means of a three-point scale (permissive, #=33;
semi-restrictive, #=47; restrictive, #=14); the work includes relevant though
fragmentary descriptive data on only a third of these societies (De Leeuwe). (3) SCCS.
Taken into consideration the rather loose definitions utilised by the 1976
Sexual Restraint ratings, the matter apparently proved measurable for about 160
of 186 SCCS societies, with little sex differences (156 vs. 154 for early
childhood b/g, 164 vs. 165 for late childhood, 155 vs. 159 for adolescence),
and, thus, some phase difference. Adolescent sexual expression could be
measured for 154 vs. 158 societies. One might imagine that the amount of cases
where boys and girls received the same rating, and where phases are rated
equally (see literature review),
suggests that arguments in the original sources might not have been gender or
phase specific. The figures are not much less than those for general non-permissiveness, measurable
for about 168 societies with even less gender/phase differences. [See
overview] (4)
"Timing" Variables. Specific timing
data are rare, but the applicability of the mere concept depends on the
variables chosen. Studies reveal large differences in measurable of the timing
of even relatively unambiguous variables[7].
Within their sample and definitions, Whiting and Child could rate the "age at
beginning of [serious] training in
heterosexual play inhibition" only for 17 of 75 selected HRAF societies; the
age of initial "serious" "modesty training" could be established for 19
societies (25%). In the study by Rogoff et al., of 50 HRAF cultures, 22 for
"considered sexual" ("The age when the child is considered capable of sexual
activity and stimulation, or when this behavior is bound by the taboos of the
culture"), 18 for "stressing sexual attractiveness" ("The culture encourages
the child to be concerned with sexual attractiveness in clothing, self-decoration,
hair-styling, personal cleanliness"), and 30 for "stressing sex
differentiation". (5) Numeric Studies. The full extent of numeric studies not being
measured, it appears from a previous inventory that data on the prepubertal
sexual behaviour development and socialisation of non-European non-U.S.
societies are very sparse; this applies even more to cross-cultural
comparisons. II.2.2
Focal Critique of Previous Comparative Numeric Studies [up] [Contents]
Reductionism.
The problem with most of existing numeric data is that they "condense" a
potentially complex socialisation mechanism into a set of ratings that entirely
obscures the mode of its organisation, its effectors, its potential
intracultural (subcultural, interfamilial, interindividual) variability, and
its potential historical variability. Sampling.
Also, the SCCS provides only a modest selection of cultures (N=186), with a definite
underrepresentation of given societal classes, historical cross-sections and
geographic regions. Referencing.
Another problem is that (exact)
references are not available in any of the SCCS works and most of the earlier
work (unlike HRAF), which renders both historical and cultural comparison
problematic. Historical updates, such as provided for some codes, are not
provided for the critical codes. Definitions.
Terms appear rather loosely utilised. Specifically, implicit and explicit
handling of definitions regarding both independent and dependent variables may
be biased for the various life phases, which makes comparisons controversial. Curricular
Setting. The concept of curricularisation, for
various reasons[8], cannot
properly be examined on the basis of this material. Specific limitations exist
regarding the issue of age or phase specificity of ratings. Barry III, Josephson et al. (1976)
used the distinction of early and late "childhood". Apart from the variability
in timing and duration of phases (ibid.),
the meaning of this term appears extremely multidimensional, especially so in sexualibus, and when comparing for
alternative (e.g., economic) definitions of maturity. Conceptual
Framework. As explored elsewhere[9],
the whole concept of training, socialising, educating and controlling sex
urgently needs to be rephrased within terms of operationalisation and curricularisation. Concluding, it is suggested that the existing
quantitative data on sexual socialisation are ultimately dissatisfying for a
number of reasons, most of which are methodological or refer to the very
concept of such socialisation. Specifically, it is not fit to explore
historical discussions, and the addressing of fundamental theoretical issues
(curriculum). II.3 Descriptive Coverage [up] [Contents]
II.3.1 Rough Historical Considerations[10] [up] [Contents] It is evident that anthropological
narrative on sexual development has always been formulated through current
perceptions on the matter. Previously[11],
I have suggested that the biomedical discourse on prepubertal sexuality has
known four thematic epochs (pre-history, Paradoxia, Freud, and abuse), and it
appears these laterally correspond to anthropological epochs of "child
sexology". Pre-20th century material consists of
isolated remarks on the "precocity" of the individual, which was generally well
tuned to the academic discourse on childhood sexuality. Where early sexuality
was dealt with in positive formulations, it was so through the euphemism of
courtship ("love instincts") crudely separated from imaginable physical
perspectives[12], on the
basis of biomedical arguments[13].
The derogative terms in which the sexuality of the "savage" was portrayed
surely were to include his alleged neglect of the duty of impulse
socialisation. The child was father of the man. This typified a moral concern
for socialisation before any clear ideology on socialisation existed, not
exclusive to the erotic sphere. With Moll and a few less central
authors, a more multidisciplinary argument was made for the variations of early
erotic life. With the arrival of Freud, whose reference to Groos and Ellis was
inevitable, matters changed in benefit of the ethnographic appraisal of
"instinct" socialisation and "habit training", giving a definite curriculum and
thesaurus for the spectrum of early development: weaning, toilet-training,
aggression, infantile sexuality (masturbation, sex play, primal scenes, birth
explanations, castration threats), and latency. This ultrastructure was to
become the skeleton of American ethnological thought on childhood, and
sporadically, few other elements than these were offered. Concurrently, with
the ethnographic recognition of adolescence (e.g., Hall) the paradigm of
courtship was given full attention, and a second traditional mode of
communicating human sex was through the adolescent period[14]. Lateral
from colonialist, missionary and early anthropological sexology from the United
States and Europe, a slow expansion of sexological interest in non-Western
areas of the world was motivated by mapping demographic and medical issues
particularly concerning the adolescent. Ethno- and "native" sexology further
tuned in to early adolescence through the paradigm of STD and AIDS,
centralising coitarche patterns and, frequently, little more. In the
ethnography of AIDS, pre-adolescent socialisation was almost invariably
considered of minor importance. Also, sex (STD, AIDS) education programs seemed
primarily directed to early adolescents rather than children, thereby
re-issuing the wide-spread cult of coitarche, combined with epidemiological
interests informed by current medical issues. Table 1 Rough Contextual Analysis of eHRAF (2002) Code 864, "Sex Training"[15]
Taking into account the broad
definition of the code, the even more diverse nature of the rated sections,
along with the obvious omissions, the historical and thematic span of the works
included, etc., ethnographers come to discuss "sex training" via a number of
entries (Table
1). In this unrepresentative sample of 138 works, measurable material
is first approached via life span approaches only, subsequently via more than
one here identified approach, and thirdly via some sexological entry. Only in
5, the matter is approached via appreciable concern for sexuality, and within
this an appreciable concern for development. II.3.2 Selected Problems in Descriptive Accounts [up] [Contents] The reciprocal relationship between
fieldworker and preadolescents in the process of field entry and data
collection are of imminent importance for the quality and nature of its
outcome[16].
The use of techniques may be especially important in this respect. A group of
girls tell amatory secrets and present themselves for future readers in front
of a tape recorder, while boys use the video camera to spy on girls and show
off game performances. A number of factors renders the
validity of ethnographic and cross-cultural work disputable: Identification of
Methodology. The mode of eliciting material is
rarely specified in an adequate manner. Several ethnographic studies are
excluded from this general problem, for instance the valuable doll mediated
observations by the Henries, and by Róheim. This renders the extent of specific
cross-cultural comparisons limited. Methodological
Diversity. Whether or not associated with cultural
norms, methods used to generate data are diverse. This renders cross-author
comparison a delicate case. Sexologisms (Coitocentrism).
A large part of the literature seem to equate sexual development with coital
development, which can be further simplified as the transition of coitarche.
This essentialist, reductionist approach, whether congruent with native
perspectives or not, does not routinely address important culturally diverse
matters of anticipation, and such frameworks as love. Developmental
Idio-Logisms (Ethnocentric Phase Ideologies, Biologism, Developmentalism).
A large part of the literature seems to equate sexual development with
adolescent sexual development. Whether congruent with native perspectives or
not, this attitude fails to challenge the fundamental convictions that surround
biologist, developmentalist and culturalist interpretations of phase-identified
sexual behaviour phenomena. Agenda.
Reviewed in §1.2, agendas both operationalise
otherwise unissued research formats, but also limit hypothetical, theoretical
and, more dramatically, outcome space. According to the Dr. Brongersma
Foundation's current position on this point, pre-adult sexualities should be
researched within an at least nonactivist frame of mind; on the other hand,
activist formulations demonstrate existing political discourses that perfuse
"sexologies" so guarded for objectivity. This is also apparent in the limited
number of Cultural Interests.
Whether congruent with native perspectives or not, anthropologists have largely
refrained from studying psychological determinants and precursors of sexual
behaviour (romantic attachment, subcultural dynamics, etc.). This is peculiar
regarding the paedocentrism and sex-centrism that tend to co-occur with the
presence of an academic sexology. This closely relates to Ethical
Limitations/Taboo Observance interfering with the acquisition of data. Whether congruent with native perspectives or
not, ethical limitations to the study of early sexual behaviour are rarely
discussed by ethnographers, except from lateral
or general indications. At times the
presence or absence of sexological material is posed in terms of possibility or
probability, due to the unavailability of, or distrust of existing, sources; in
other instances the credibility of diverse informants is weighed to best
abilities. This problem closely interacts with that of the interpretation of
data being subject to Moral, Political,
Idealist Bias.
Mapping sexological geographies, perhaps especially developmental sexological geographies, is likely to fall subject to
extensive debate (e.g., Mead-Freedman), in which the "hidden" or personal
agendas of either party are publicly identified as critically informative to
the (counter-)positions taken. Refraining from specifics in these difficult yet
important matters, I expect such controversies to become possible for many
societies as both political and academic orientations change over the course of
time. In summary, all factors are associated
with the scientific, cultural bias in approaching the theme. II.4 Summary [up] [Contents] Concerning
sexual behaviour development, several problems with both numeric and
descriptive material are identified. These problems generally compromise any
numeric or qualitative comparison between authors and ethnographic settings. Notes [up] [Contents] [1]
Examples (mostly debatable) may be found in Williams, Th. R. (Ed., 1975) Psychological Anthropology. The Hague
[etc.]: Mouton, plates 6-8; Sorenson, E. R. & Gajdusek, C. (1966) The study
of child behavior and development in primitive cultures, Suppl to Pediatrics 37,1, Pt. II, p168; Sorenson, E. R. (1967) A Research Film Program in the Study
of Changing Man, Current Anthropol 8,5,
Pt.1:443-69, at p460 [comment on p464 by De Heusch]; Sorenson, E. R. (1976) The Edge of the Forest. Washington, DC:
Smithsonian Institution Press, p179; Bryk, F. (1928) Neger-Eros. Berlin [etc.]: Marcus & Weber, p118; Bateson, G.
& Mead, M. (1942) Balinese Character:
A Photographic Analysis. New York: The New York Academy of Sciences,
p130-1; Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. (1972) Die
!Ko-Buschmann-Gesellschaft. München: Piper, p158, etc.; Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I.
(1989) Human Ethology. New York: De
Gruyter, p247; Schiefenhövel, W. (1982) Kindliche Sexualität, Tabu und
Schamgefühl bei "primitiven" Völkern, in Hellbrügge, Th. (Ed.) Die Entwicklung der Kindlichen Sexualität.
München: Urban & Schwarzenberg, p145-63, at p154, 155; Diamond, M. (1990)
Selected Cross-Generational Sexual Behavior in Traditional Hawai'i: A
Sexological Ethnography, in Feierman, J. R. (Ed.) Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions. New York: Springer Verlag,
p422-43. Money (1976/ 1986:p522; 1988: p64/65) draws a visual parallel between
animal and human copulatory play. See Money, J. (1976) Childhood: the last
frontier in sex research, The Sciences
16,6:12ff. Reprinted in Reflections
12(1977):13-21, and in Money, J. (1986) Venuses
Penuses. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus, p520-5. Cf. inclusion in Money, J. (1988)
Gay, Straight and In-Between: The
Sexology of Erotic Orientation. Oxford University Press. Despite
increasingly tight regulations, many recent examples appear to find their way
to popular works, such as Molcho, S. (1996) Körpersprache der Kinder.
München: Mosaik Verlag, p7, 190-1 [and how about p58?] [2]
Consider the following examples: Friedman, M. (1953) Valery Larbaud: The Two
Traditions of Eros, Yale French Studies 11:91-100;
Shaw, P. W. (1984) My Antonia: Emergence and Authorial Revelations, Am Lit 56,4:527-540[539]; Fong, G. S.
(1994) Inscribing Desire: Zhu Yizun's Love Lyrics in Jingzhiju qinqu, Harvard J Asiatic Stud 54,2:437-60 [3]
The more detailed cases include Malinowski (Trobrianders), Firth (Tikopia),
Chuuk (Gladwin), !Kung (Shostak), Kaguru (Beidelman), Asaba
Ibo (Isichei), Zaire (Erny), Baushi (Kokonge and Erny), Ghana (Kaye, Bleek), Bengali
(Roy), Muria (Elwin), Lepcha (Gorer), Santal (Mukherjea), Tibetans (Ludwar-Ene), Morocco (Serhane),
Hopi (Simmons). [4]
25-04-2002 [5]
Description reads (Outline of Cultural
Materials, 4th revised, 1961; eHRAF,
1997) as follows: "adult beliefs, standards, and aims concerning sex behavior
in children and methods of sex training; incidence of specifically sexual
behavior in infants and children [...]; rules for the control of such behavior
[...]; training in sexual modesty; imparting of knowledge and beliefs about sex
and reproduction; reactions to curiosity of children about sex; normal age for
each aspect of sex training; reactions of children to sex training; etc". [6]
Various personal communications. [7]
In Whiting and Child the age of initial "serious" "modesty training" could be
established for 19/75 societies (25%), Rogoff found 24/50 (48%) HRAF
ethnographies reporting ages for modesty training. In a 1971 SCCS study, Barry
III and Paxson rated the age of modesty training (genitalia first covered, as
would be typical for males) for 140 of 186 societies (75%). The measure
demonstrated relative large sex differences. A SCCS restudy (Broude and Green,
1976) revealed data on "the age at which clothing begins to be worn" in 42
(males) and 53 of 186 cultures (females) (23 vs 28%). [8]
The ratings do nothing to prevent the suggestion that sexual socialisation
curricula are commonly biphasic, (or triphasic, including "adolescence"), a
hypothetical organisation perhaps even interacting with the image of an "early"
versus "late" childhood. These issues are probably even more urgent in the case
of "adolescent" age sexual socialisation (Barry III & Schlegel, 1984). For instance,
the content of the concept "adolescence" in case of a society that betroth and
marry girls well before puberty, but not boys, can hardly be determined by the
same measures as can most cases of contemporary European adolescence. Data
suggest these concepts are ethnographically and historically rather fluid.
Comparison of life phases within cultures
are also problematic, given the lack of context of the data relative to the
organisation and meaning of age/phase stratification. [11]
See Paradoxia Sexualis. [12]
This may be best illustrated by Bell's arguments on this matter in his 1902
paper. [13]
See Paradoxia Sexualis. [14]
This "adolescent" paradigm of human sexuality was to remain aside from the
psychodynamic curriculum, and still seems fundamental due to its "lateral"
claims to social relevance, that is, in terms of medical and demographic
anthropology. [15]
Methodology: Examines code 864 for contextual significance, for all 138 eHRAF
documents currently including the code (June, 2002). This measure provides a
(very rough) indication of approach and
significance, not necessarily of content. Contextuality is determined by
interpreting chapter headings on two levels, less if appropriate, or more, if
necessary. If uninformative, sections are judged on the basis of their content.
If ambiguous or atypical, works are judged to be of "unclassified" context. If
more than one here identified approach are encountered (e.g., via family and
marriage) the works are judged to be of "mixed" context. [16]
Evaldsson, A. C. (2000) Don't Write That
We're Children! On the Dual Nature of Ethnographic Research with Preadolescents.
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