Caribbean sexuality is typified by a double standard (e.g., Wilson, 1969:p71-3)[1] historically informed by Spanish and Victorian English (Jamaica) values (e.g., Green, 1960:p31, 33)[2]. Many authors (e.g., Francoeur, 1990:p98-101)[3] have provided baseline sketches of Latino sexuality, but few analyses have clarified formative and pedagogical aspects. Accounts on native concepts of sexual standards and development are less voluminous than is the Latin case. Beals (1961:p605)[4], for instance, provides an account that offers little coherence:

"Masturbation is performed openly, even on public thoroughfares, by Tarascan children. But among the Quechuas it is discouraged by stories of loss of memory, possible insanity, danger of tuberculosis, or the drying up of the bone marrow […] Female masturbators and child lebians are called Mimetera (Caresser), Linguista (tongue caresser), Little Pitcher-drinkers, Those-who-think-they-are-babies, Breast-suckers, Little Calves, Those-who-go-down-to-the-well".

Writing on the Caribbean as a whole, Carrim (2000:p25-6, 62-3)[5]argues:

"Neilson Waite [[6]] sees the socialization process in general and the lack of information in particular as major factors in female attitudes toward sexuality (35-38). At a young age the socialization process for girls regarding proper sex behavior and modesty begins. Girls' activities are sharply curtailed at puberty. Activities outside of the house must have purpose; that is, to fetch water, to buy groceries, to collect mail at the post office. By contrast, the boys' activities are comparatively free; leaving the house requires no particular purpose (Chevannes, Sexual Practices 5)[[7]]. Puberty rituals are lacking throughout the Caribbean and parents rarely discuss sexuality with their children. Often girls enter menarche confused and ignorant of what is happening (Chevannes, Sexual Practices 5). Adolescent females are pressured to stay away from men, yet are seldom given an adequate understanding of their own sexuality. Although sexuality is generally not discussed with adolescent males either, the socialization process is significantly different. Freedom to experience sexual intercourse is encouraged for the males, either by the many examples they see or tacitly by the parents' silence. Sexual behavior is generally tolerated in male children and adolescents and may even be viewed with amusement (Chevannes, Sexual Practices 5). The peer group is the major source of information regarding sexual practices for adolescents, but especially for males. Usually older males educate younger males in this regard. Magazines, books, and the cinema supplement sex education for many Caribbean adolescents (Chevannes, Sexual Practices 5). The socialization process begun in childhood and continued in adolescence is perpetuated in adulthood".

[Additional refs.:

-- Holmstedt, M., (Ed., 1974) Sex Education and Social Development in Sweden, Latin America and the Carribean.

Lundgren, R. (2000) Protocolos de Investigación para el Estudio de la Salud Sexual y Reproductiva de los Adolescentes y Jóvenes Varones en América Latina. Washington, DC: Organización Panamericana de la Salud

-- Pick de Weiss, S. & Vargas-Trujillo,-E. (1990) Conducta sexual y reproductiva de los adolescentes en América Latina, Avances en Psicol Clin Latinoam 8:11-41

-- Vener, A. M. & Stewart, C. S. (1974) Adolescent sexual behavior in Middle America revisited: 1970-1973, J Marriage & Fam 36:728-35

-- Vener, A. M., Stewart, C. S. & Hager (1972) The sexual behavior of adolescents in Middle America: generational and American-British comparisons, J Marriage & Fam 34:696-705

Current Age of Consent and Sexual Intercourse [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

For details, one is to consult ECPAT[8]. [Contemporary AoC figures are presented in the ®South America chapter].

Data[9] suggest that median female coitarche ages in Latin America and the Caribbean of the late 1980s/begin 1990s lie between 17.8 and 20.0. Singh et al. (2000[10]:p25; see further Wulf and Singh, 1991)[11] found female median ages ranging from 16.9 (Jamaica) to 19.6 (Peru) years. This compares to male figures of 15.4 (Jamaica) to 17.8 (Haiti). Median female marriage ages ranged 18.6 (Guatemala, 1987) to 21.2 (Brazil, 1986; Colombia, 1990)[12].

Ethnographic Peculiarities [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Costa Rica / República de Costa Rica [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Among the Talamancan tribes of former days, a man went up to a child-girl's mother to arrange for their wedding at age twelve "or puberty" (menarche at age 12-14). During this period "the girl would become accustomed to the man and would run to meet him on his visits to receive some little gift" (Stone, 1962:p28)[13]. The custom had "almost entirely disappeared". Today, "[t]en-year-old girls may talk about novios and exchange love notes with boys, but usually only at fifteen or sixteen do they begin going out alone with boys […]" (Biesanz et al., 1999:p181)[14].

Cuba (®Cuban Americans) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

"Sexual relations between adolescents are considered premature because the individuals involved are not yet psychologically and emotionally mature or able to bear full responsibility for their actions. Problems related to adolescent sexuality that are occurring with increasing frequency in Cuba include teenage pregnancy, abortions, and marriages and the emotional, financial, and psychosocial difficulties that ensue. Sex education in the schools needs to be improved and made more widely available"[15].

A study of Cuban and Haitian child-rearing practices "clearly demonstrates two divergent parental views of adolescent sexuality" (DeSantis and Thomas, 1987)[16]. A study[17] on 218 subjects aged 14-19 reveals that 51% of the sample had sexual intercourse "since early adolescence", which may be "increasingly early"[18]. Duharte Osorio (1987)[19] surveyed attitudes of 23 male and 22 female Cuban factory workers aged 21-70 years on knowledge and / or behaviour or attitudes with respect to sexuality and sexual games in children, menstruation, masturbation, first intercourse, etc. A further study[20] hints at children's dirty words.

Antilles (Martinique, Aruba) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Martinique (Lesser Antilles) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Fragmentary as it is, Labat[21] (1724, II:p52, as cited by Karsch-Haack, 1911:p183)[22] came upon Negro children on Martinique, who, the eldest not older than nine years, practiced the marital act under banana trees.

Aruba, Netherlands Antilles [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

For Aruba, no data are available on childhood or adolescent sexual behaviour socialisation[23]. Infants are played with like "barby dolls", not excluding the genitals of both sexes, a practice which has very recently come under the scope of abuse issues. Preliminary sex research[24] on adolescents was initially counteracted with the objection to questioning school students on specific sexual practices.

West Indies (Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

According to Rose (1994:[p136-8])[25], virtually all St. Lucia women, young and old, reported that at the time of menarche they were grossly ignorant of menstruation. When it does occur [ages 14, 15] they are told, apart from hygienic instructions, not to "play" or "mess" with boys. It is stated that "very little research has actually been conducted on documenting sex relations across the life-cycle" (p186-7). Andre[26] argued that differences in the upbringing of male and female children in French West Indian society aim not to determine different attitudes toward sexuality, but rather contrast the sexual and the nonsexual.

Puerto Rico / Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico (eHRAF) (West Indies) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index] [IES]

Socialization in Puerto Rico (Baumgartner, 1994 [p182-90])[27] is "gendered" from birth. "Two or three year old toddlers are asked about their "girl-friends" and are made aware of their sexuality through jokes and observations on the desirability of girls, which will seem out of context for an outside observer who does not understand the "macho" personality being enforced. Machismo develops in boys on the basis of the encouragement of their mothers as well as fathers and friends[28]. Little girls are less encouraged to have "boy-friends". Instead, they are constantly reminded of their beauty, the need to maintain pleasing looks and demeanor, to keep their legs together when sitting, […] to never say a "bad" word" […]". The vulva is covered since birth, the penis may be bare until age 7 years (Mintz, 1956:p384, 285)[29]. Parents would pull a two-year-old's penis, and inquire for its function. The answer would be, "For the women!" Thus the parents try to instill a macho concept, along with the double standard, from early age[30]. "After about the age of five years, boys are no longer subject to the sexual joking, teasing, and play of their parents. This kind of play apparently ends abruptly, and one cannot but wonder at the psychological effects of this". Manners (1956:p146)[31] notes: "It is a common practice to stimulate the child erotically by fondling or kissing his genitals- teaching him how "to milk the cow" or "put the car in gear" ". Stycos (1955:p42)[32]: "The most striking manifestation of attempts to inculcate machismo occurs in the adult adulation of the infantile penis. By praising and calling a great deal of attention to the penis, the parent can communicate to the child the literal or symbolic value of the male organ". Seda (1956:p291)[33] notes: "The masculinity of the boy child is a matter of considerable interest, and parents and friends may play with the boy's genitals until he is around seven years old". Further, "[v]arious sexual aberrations and masturbation were reported among young boys", and adolescents would have homosexual congregations in the fields, with girls in their thoughts. Children must not talk or joke about sex in the presence of adults lest they be considered badly reared. Adult sexual talk is overheard and adult intercourse is observed. At pubescence, boys collect in gangs in which sexual joking becomes "open and articulate, often aggressively homosexual, and aimed at insulting the listener"; unlike girls, the author adds. Girls, in whom sex as such is "deemphasized and hidden" from birth to the start of puberty, are educated sexually by their mother, and experience a restriction of their mobility at puberty. Boys have their first sexual experience with prostitutes (Manners, p147). One study[34] among 953 persons (aged 15 to 40, about 33% female) revealed the ambiguity with which sex education is viewed in Puerto Rico.

Catholics overwhelmingly (N=547) thought the home was responsible for sex education; 103 respondents named the school, 5 the Church, and 96 nobody. Montesinos and Preciado (1997)[35] stated that "[a]s a result of marianismo [[36]], the Church's opposition, and the reluctance of society and families to acknowledge female sexuality openly, many girls experience their menarche with no formal education about it, and although males are expected to have their first sexual experience before marriage, they do not receive formal education either. Obviously, neither females nor males have any knowledge about the health implications of various sexual practices (Burgos and Diaz-Perez 1985)[37]. There are no systems or district-wide sexuality education programs […]". "Childhood sexual rehearsal play and sexual exploration no doubt occur in private as they do in many other cultures, but there are no statistics or information on their incidence or extent".

The above image is solidified by similar accounts. Lewis[38] found "danger of seduction by stepfathers, sexual rivalry between sisters, between mother and daughters [and] male children erotically stimulated by their mothers and by other members of the family". Padilla[39] reported parents and others regularly masturbating the infant's penis. Fernández-Marina[40] found that a Puerto Rican father frequently, "wishing to show off his son as a macho completo (complete he-man), will play with the infant's penis" (p82). Green[41] describes a rural lower class pattern in which "[g]irls are not evaluated as highly as boys: economically they are not as valuable for agriculture, and they bear a lower status generally. While some sex knowledge is obvious is such crowded housing, the boys learn first-hand outside the home what the girls learn only through gossip" (p37).

Some valuable female autobiographical material was collected by Villanueva (1997)[42]. Girls, who are to become "señioritas" at menarche, are restricted in sex information[43], and they would be discouraged to play sexually ([p45, 58]). However, others mention satisfactory experiments ([p45, 53, 57]). The atmosphere fits well into the general attitude against premarital intercourse. Landy (1959 [1965])[44] further deals extensively with childhood sexuality (p107-13, 159-61, 201-2, 236-7). Gender differences are noted in modesty training. Boys' sex organs are joked about, playfully carressed grabbed in combination with playful castration threats (although the latter was found to be on the decline) (p108). Masturbation is rigidly counteracted by both parents; parents, fathers more than mothers, deny masturbation in their children, but note it in other people's children. Both parents state they never get questions on sex. In comparison to data on the US[45], pressure for modesty rules, restrictiveness against masturbation and against mutual sex play were significantly higher for the Puerto Rico sample (p202). Sexual allusions towards dolls were rare (p161).

Wolf (1952)[46] offered an insight to three subcultures. In Manicaboa, information about sex is readily accessible, there is no attempt to hide the facts of life from small children, and no privacy in sexual relations. "There is however little discussion of sex and joking about it, except for a short period among adolescent boys when they feel themselves unobserved by adults (p414). In Barrio Poyal, "[a] boy's sexuality is emphasized when he is a baby; he may be teased by having his penis pulled playfully, and is asked such questions as, "What's it for?" ". Boys go nude, girls always wear panties (cf. Stycos, 1955:p45-6, relating that mothers find nude boys look more pretty than nude girls. Boys and girls are kept apart for every man, no matter how young, represents a danger to women, no matter how small). "Sex play is frequent among small children, but ceases abruptly around the age of five; sex is de-emphasized from then on, and sexual joking and teasing of boys is discontinued. […] Until puberty, boys […] engage in much sexual joking, often of a homosexual nature. The girl's sexuality is not overtly emphasized until she reaches puberty" (p420, 421). Among the San José middle-class (p431),

"[g]irls learn at an early age that their sexuality must be valued and hidden. […] Masturbation in girls appears to be frequent and to go unreprimanded, but masturbation by boys is usually noticed by the mother and stopped by scolding or by diverting their attention. Yet women of this class often tease boys sexually up to the age of two or three, by jocularly kissing or handling their genitals. Little girls are rarely teased in the same way. Boys frequently have had sexual experience with prostitutes by the time they are fifteen, while premarital relations involving girls of the same class are extremely rare […]. Parents carefully guard their own sex relations from their children, and many girls of this group have no adequate sexual knowledge before they marry. Their first sexual contact is often traumatic. Similarly, many girls have no knowledge of menstruation before its first onset, though older sisters sometimes inform younger sisters about it".

According to a study by O'neill (1990)[47], seventeen percent of male students and 17% of female students reported childhood sexual experiences that were classified as child sexual abuse on the same age discrepancy criteria used by Finkelhor (1979).

Padilla (1958)[48]:

"The games of girls are different from those of boys, and this is another device used to keep boys and girls separated. Some games, like baseball, are for boys of all ages, but it is preferred that whatever the game, individuals attach themselves to persons their own age for recreation and play. Hispanos who have grown up in Eastville, however, do not generally follow these rules. Among them are those who openly maintain that there is nothing bad about girls and boys playing together, nor about people of different ages, particularly adults, engaging together in games in the street. "What is bad and dangerous", said Gloria Pima, a woman who grew up in Eastville, "is that children are not taught the facts of life at home". She was commenting on why she allows her daughters, ten and eleven, to count boys among their friends".

"Since little girls are expected to grow into demure and virtuous women, they are also supposed to be innocent and ignorant of the physiological processes connected with sex and sexual behavior. They are supposed to be feminine in the sense of being coquettish, yet are to refrain from using their feminine charms to attract men, unless they are addressing themselves to a suitor who has parental approval. As she is supposed to be modest, a little girl is to have her body, and particularly her genitals, covered. Only women—her mother, sisters, or close friends of her mother—can bathe and change her. As an infant in her crib, the tiny girl is covered with a small sheet or other clothing when her diapers are removed. The genitals of the baby boy, on the other hand, are more likely to be displayed. His chest, like that of the baby girl, may be covered for protection against cold, but adults and older brothers and sisters are likely to tease and play with his genitals, kissing them and remarking on their size, commenting that he is a machito (real little male) or a machote (real he-man). A baby girl less than a year old may be slapped on the hands if she touches her genitals, but a boy can play with his until he is four or five. When the little girl starts to walk and to be toilet-trained, she is told that she should not take her panties off in front of others and that she is not to go around without them. But it is quite usual to see a boy of three or four going about the house pantless. After this age, however, boys are encouraged to cover up in front of strangers and the women of the house [[49]]. They are called "fresh" and told they should be ashamed of letting women see them in order to train them to wear pants" (p185-6) "Well before a girl is five, she is taught that her chest is to be kept covered, for girls do not show their bodies. A girl is not to let men or boys touch her, nor is she to sit on their laps unless they are her father or her brothers. In turn, the men of her family are to stop caressing and fondling her as they did when she was a baby and starting to walk".

Although a girl is introduced to maternal tasks at an early age,

"[…] she is not supposed to know about sex or even about her own physiological development. Menstruation will take her by surprise, unless she has acquired some notions about it from friends in school or has overheard her father or mother or adult women at home speaking about sex. When she begins to menstruate, she becomes señorita (virgin), and the watch on her is intensified. While her brothers become more free as they grow up, more restrictions are placed on the girl (for example, she can no longer go to camp or Friendly Town once she is señorita), for she must protect her virginity" (p188).

Alvarez (1988)[50]:

"By being closely watched and kept away from men, daughters were externally protected from the perils of their gender. They were left to discover for themselves, however, the nature of their own sexuality. This left many unprepared for later sexual encounters in their relationship: Lucila: Yo no tenía idea de nada. Para mejor decirte yo creía que las mujeres parían por el ombligo. Y ésa es la ignorancia más grande…. I knew nothing. To be more precise I thought that women gave birth through their belly button, and that is truly ignorance. And how was one to open that belly button and take the baby out? Imagine what can result from ignorance and the way one is brought up. And God forbid that some boy should touch you, because "I'll beat you up". But they wouldn't tell you why; then you don't know any better. That's why the father of my kids took me for a fool all those years. I didn't know any better. Imagine, he probably was saying to himself: "I brought her from the docks untouched. With her I can do what I want because she doesn't know nothing from nothing". In the process of cultural transmission, old ways get replicated, reformulated, or transformed in the lives of individual families. Doña Lucila and doña Eulalia employed quite divergent strategies and approaches in the socialization of their own daughters. Lucila, for example has learned from her own experience that a strict and repressive family has subjected her to the perils of living in fear and ignorance. She in turn seeks to empower her own daughters by creating a more open and supportive family environment. She presents herself as their friend to whom they can come fo help with any problem. She explains to them that they do have choices in life (for example, that they don't have to marry the first man that they meet) but that they also have responsibilities to family and home".

Irizarry (1993)[51] compared adolescent reproductive behaviour of Puerto Rican women in New York and Puerto Rico.Findings from 1982 / 1985 studies "suggest that a higher proportion of unmarried Puerto Rican teenage women in New York had had sexual intercourse than adolescents in Puerto Rico"].

In an interesting paper, Lucca and Pacheco (1986)[52] present data on the sexological content of bathroom wall graffiti in 10 Puerto Ricanelementary schools, messages and drawings presumed to be manufactured by children aged 6 to 11. "Sexual" content categories occupied a fourth position in girls' bathrooms (15%) and a third position in boys' (27%; p469).

[Additional refs.: Comas-Diaz (1995)[53] and Fontes (1992, 1993)[54]; Asencio (1999)[55]. Villarruel (1998)[56] examined sexual norms and attitudes of 49 Puerto Rican and Mexican-American girls aged 10-15 year old, together with 21 of their mothers].

Haiti (2,2+,2,2+,3-,3;2,1; AB) (Republic of Haiti, West Indies) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

"In Haiti little boys and girls privately experiment in sexual activity from early childhood until puberty" (Ford and Beach, 1951:p181).

Danielsson ([1956]:p84-5; 1961:p834)[57] quotes Cook:

"Dances of an erotic character were common. Cook wrote that in Haiti, dances of this type were "performed by young girls, whenever eight or ten of them can be collected together, and added that they consisted of "motions and gestures beyond imagination wanton, in which they are brought up since their earliest childhood, accompanied by words, which, if it were possible, would more explicitly convey the same idea[58]". Small children imitating sexual intercourse were a common sight on all islands. Only children of the same age, however, took part in these sexual games, and it was considered in the highest degree improper and abnormal for an adult to show any interest in them. Any such offence was punished with extreme severity".

In spite of this, Danielsson adds that the "first real intercourse" occurred with "an older experienced person", after practical instruction of its technique. See also Elis (1782, II:p153, quoted by Diamond, 1990:p433)[59]: "The ladies are very lavish of their favors […] and some of their attachments seemed purely the effects of affection. They are initiated into this way of life at a very early period; we saw some, who could not be more than ten years old".

In the early 1940s, there was no parental sex education among Haiti peasants (Simpson, 1943:p665)[60]. Underwood and Honigmann (1947:p568)[61] stated that masturbation was prohibited and not observed. Training would be so effective that even erections are not observed [sic]. Housing leaves room for minimal privacy only.

A more recent study of Cuban and Haitian child-rearing practices clearly demonstrates two divergent parental views of adolescent sexuality (DeSantis and Thomas, 1987)[62].

Jamaica (West Indies) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Green[63] characterises the rural lower class pattern as follows:

"Sex training in these Jamaican communities [Rocky Roads, Mocca, Negril, Farquhar Beach] does not follow dependence-independence patterns. It is relatively unimportant. Mothers shelter their daughters so that pregnancies will not produce too many mouths to feed- thus undermining economic security- and there is no masculine-feminine modes of behavior, virginity, or fecundity" (p42).

In a study by MacCormack and Draper (1987)[64], virtually half of female respondents stated a girl passes to the status of Woman at menarche; a quarter stated it coincided with pregnancy, and 6% stated it occurred with the beginning of sex relations. According to data by Roberts and Sinclair (1978:p80)[65] menarche occurred at a mean age of 14.21 in women under twenty-five, suggesting a one years' drop over a single generation. According to Brody (1981)[66], 28% of girls received no information on menarche prior to its first occurrence. Other studies confirm that girls are told very little about menstruation and sex before their first occurrence (Clarke, 1957[67]:p98; Roberts and Sinclair, 1978:p109, 111; Allen, 1982[68]:p26, Thompson, 1982[69]:p27, 30; cf. Blake, 1961[70]:p52-6. 72, 76-9; Greenfeld, 1966[71]:p108-9; Kerr, 1963:p39-41, 67, 80[72]). As an older source reveals, "[a]t home the attitude of the parents towards sex instruction and masturbation vary. Most mothers tend to avoid giving sex instruction […]. There is definitely a reticence to discuss sexual matters with children […] Masturbation is sometimes regarded as an evil [in that it] will impair the virility of the child later on […]. Some parents, however, "will deliberately encourage their children in premature sexual activities, even with each other". A girl relates: "[…] I never heard anything from anybody and had to find out things for myself. […] I never even know what he was doing until he get it in there" (Blake). Puberty may be "the beginning of the period of sex experimentation" (Hendriques, 1953:p131, 133)[73]. " 'Boys are not taught as much as girls'. They were not punished as are the girls if their early sex experimentation was discovered, nor did they receive any instruction from their fathers as to the responsibilities of paternity" (Clarke, 1957 [1979:p98]).

Blake (p89-90) mentioned that girls aged 14 engaged in sexual intercourse with mature men upon the bestowal of rather minor gifts, such as a chocolate candy bar. However, it was argued by Sanford (1975:p161-2)[74] that the girls were rarely taken advantage of.

Boys' masturbation [genital play, DJ.] is, unlike early sexual experiences, not admitted by mothers, who indicate that they will stop it if seen. One mother would flog the children, reasoning they would "hurt" themselves (Kerr, p41).

Coitarche tends to be scheduled in early adolescence. Olenick reported a low mean coitarchal age of 13.4 for sexually experienced male respondents in 1997 (opposing a mean of 15.9 for females)[75]. According to data collected in the mid-1970s, Brody found that 87.3% of girls had coitache at ages 14-19, the youngest being 9. In a sample of women attending antenatal clinics, Mukerjee (1982:p23)[76] found that 29% had their first experience at age 15 or younger. In a similar survey, Allen (1982:p29) found that the youngest was 11 and the mode was 14, some three years earlier than girls' mothers. In a comparative study of young women from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Murphy (1982:p23)[77] found a range of ages for first intercourse from 7 to 18, with a modal age of 15 (cf. Rubenstein, 1987:p263-4) [78][[79]]. In a study reported by Warren et al. (1988) of sexually experienced adolescents (ages 14-24; 46.8% of males before age 14, 15.3% of females before age 14), first sexual intercourse occurred before age ten in 14.7% (M) and 0.5% (F); at age ten in 10.8% (M) and 0.4% (F); at age eleven in 6.3% (M) and 1.2%), and at age twelve in 13.5% (M) and 4.5% (F). Mean ages were 14.3 (M) and 16.9 (F); mean ages of first partners were 13.2 for males and 19.7 for females. It was hypothesised that females referred to experiences at occurred later than actual sexarche, and that males were bragging (p138).

Reporting on a 1995 study on 945 Jamaican students aged 11-14 (Eggleston et al., 1999[80]; cf. Jackson et al., 1998:p26ff)[81], 5.8% of girls and 64.4% of boys reported sexual intercourse. The mean ages indicated were as low as 11.3 (girls) and 9.4 (boys). "Forty-five percent of boys reporting sexual activity claimed they first had sexual intercourse at age nine or younger. This unlikely finding suggests that boys overreported their sexual experience. Only four of the 28 girls who reported having had sex said they had intercourse prior to ten" (p81).

"In each group, some boys insisted that a boy might have sex at age eight or nine or younger. A boy at a rural school related how sex at this age might occur: "A boy and a girl a play dolly house- the boy the father and the girl the mother. Them a sleep and things get outta hand. Him start feel her up, you know, them take off clothes, kissing go on…him push it in, she start cry" (ibid.).

While survey material typically indicated that girls thought that sexual intercourse should await ages 21 for boys and 22 for girls (boys stated that both sexes should wait till age 20), a "sizable proportion" of boys in discussion groups indicated "that a boy should have sex by age 12 or 13" (p80). Boy's intercourse experience is met with high status among peers; girls are not likely to tell peers, since they would be accused of being called sketels [sluts]. Of course, neither sex is going to tell parents.

In a follow-up study (Eggleston, et al., 2000)[82], it was revealed that boys were nearly 14 times more likely to report their sexual experience inconsistently.

Cohen (1955:p279-80, 284)[83] stated that, although flogged for a variety of reasons,

"[t]here is never any parental interference with erotic or genital play during infancy, childhood or adolescence, save for the imposition of the incest taboo during late infancy. Infants and children, both boys and girls, masturbate frequently and openly without any evidence of guilt and shame. At no time are they punished, teased, or praised by their parents for their autoeroticism; the parents are aware of the erotic play of their children, but never comment on it. […] Masturbation ceases completely, according to observation and the reports of parents, at about the age of four years and is rarely resumed in adolescence or adulthood. […] Premarital sexual intercourse begins at puberty for boys and girls. There seems to be few indications of anxiety or guilt surrounding sexual behavior in Rocky Roads".

[Additional refs: CRLP (1997) Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives: Latin America and the Caribbean, p126-44. Also Progress Report, 2000, p54-62]

Panama / República de Panamá (Cuna) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

In a 1984 survey (see Morris, 1988)[84], female age at first sexual intercourse was 16.7.

Cuna / Kuna (3,3+,4-,4,4,4;2,2) (eHRAF) (central region of what is now Panama and neighbouring San Blas Islands) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Marshall[85] remarks on the early 1940 Cuna:

"Early emphasis on modesty is extended to sexual training, where children are kept as ignorant of sexual matters as possible until marriage; when parents inform them of the sex act in the last stages of the wedding ceremony. Actually, the children have gained a conversational knowledge from their playmates some years before. Homosexual or other sex play is forbidden, and the crowded conditions of the island villages, at least, prevent much of this being carried on. Watching of the birth or sexual acts of animals is forbidden. The inevitable question of 'Where did the baby come from?' is answered by replies that the father met a deer in the forest, who was carrying it, or that a dolphin left it on the beach".

Even animal reproduction is tabooed. Thus, the "point, that everything concerning sex is to be treated with the utmost secrecy, is very strictly upheld among the Cunas, and it is therefore usual that the girls, and even the young men, when they marry are entirely ignorant in these matters. It is hardly credible that this strict taboo on everything that connects with sex is a matter of protecting the child's innocence, but rather it seems to me to be more likely that it hangs together with the myths about creation […]" (Nordenskiöld, 1938: p370-1)[86]. "In addition to the evasions and circumlocutions used to maintain sexual ignorance among the children, there are also many euphemisms in the myths and chants wherever mention is made of menstruation or birth, and it is considered very improper—indeed, sinful by some—to speak openly of sexual matters, particularly in mixed groups (Stout, 1938:p38)[87]. A girl's sexual past is "read" during initiation (Marshall, p244), but no consequences are mentioned.

Nicaragua / República de Nicaragua (Soumoo) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

In a study among 7789 households in Nicaragua[88], the median age of coitarche was 17.8 for women and 16.2 for men. At around age 15, around 25% of boys and girls had had their first sexual intercourse. In another study[89] among 15-19 year old males it was 14 years among sexually experienced subjects. Concepts of male sexual initiation follow a pattern not untypical of Latin America:

"In some cultures, boys are actively encouraged by both their peers and family members to use their adolescent years to experiment sexually. In Nicaragua, for example, where virginity is highly valued among young women, having multiple sexual partners is taken as a sign of virility in young men. Teenage boys face social pressures from older men (including fathers, older brothers, and uncles) to have sex as early as possible. In the recent past, it was not uncommon for Nicaraguan fathers to arrange for their son's sexual initiation with a sex worker. So while for girls, public disclosure of sexual activity leads to dishonor, bragging about sex is common for boys"[90].

Soumoo / Woolwa (Nicaragua) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Speaking of the 1866-7 period, Wickham (1895:p205)[91]: "Female children are betrothed to young men whist they are still almost babies. The custom is that the future bridegroom resides with the father-in-law elect, and overlooks the education of his future wife, until such time [?] as she becomes fitted to be taken to his own lodge. At such time they seem to be much petted, and not a little spoilt".

Honduras / República de Honduras [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

According to a 1996 survey (Remez, 1999)[92], males aged 15-24 indicated they initiated sexual "activity" at a median age of 16.3 years (compared to 15.9 for the whole sample aged 15-59); females' age of first sexual intercourse was 18.3.

El Salvador [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

[Additional refs: CRLP (1997) Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives: Latin America and the Caribbean, p91-107. Also Progress Report, 2000, p39-45]

Guatemala / República de Guatemala (®Maya) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Cowgill and Hutchinson (1963)[93] (as cited by DeMause, 1989)[94] reported that all the girls were very flirtatious with the grown men, often overtly sexual even as very young girls. When they looked for the reasons why, they found a very high boy/girl ratio and noticed that girls were regularly allowed to die off - through giving them less food and by other neglect - if they did not appeal sexually to the men around them.

In Guatemala, 9.0% of males and 2.6% had their first sexual intercourse at age 12 or below (Herold et al., 1988)[95]. Mean ages were 16.7 (F) and 14.8 (M).

Redfield (1943 [1970:p291])[96] notes that, within a pattern of casual and unsystematic education typical of the rural Landino, "[s]ome parents will select a serious and special moment in which they convey sex instruction […]". Traditionally, San Pedro girls, "as in much of native Middle America, were carefully supervised from the time they reached puberty; they could make direct contact with marriageable boys only by devious means. The sexes were separated early in childhood […]" (Paul and Paul, 1963:p134)[97].

Wagley[98] documents that most boys of twelve or thirteen years of age have a special male friend or companion called tukl-haj in Mam) of approximately their own age; this is interrupted by (early) marriage. "There is obviously a warm personal attachment between two companions, but all of my informants denied that it ever became an overt sexual relationship. In fact, one of the main activities of the two companions is to arrange sexual encounters with women" acting as go-betweens (p35-7). They have to because

"[g]irls are warned by their parents when they are ten or eleven years old to stay away from youths and older men. […] Daughters must be protected so they will be virgins at marriage, and the one reason for the early marriages in Chimaltenango is to be certain that the young wife is a virgin. Only when a girl is not married by the time she is sixteen or seventeen is the vigilance of her parents relaxed enough to give her the opportunity to indulge in a premarital affair. […] When young girls of thirteen or fourteen years of age do have pre-marital sex experience, it is through seduction by an older man".

Marriages between ten or eleven (boys), and for girls preferably a year earlier, are considered "excellent "because they grow up together" " (p37). "If the couple is already adolescent at marriage, intercourse does generally take place as soon as they have moved to the husband's father's house. When the girl is a virgin, she usually resists her young husband "until she learns" " (p40-1).

[Additional refs: CRLP (1997) Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives: Latin America and the Caribbean, p108-25. Also Progress Report, 2000, p46-53; Bertrand, J. T., Ward, V. & Pauc, F. (1991-2) Sexual practices among the Quiche-speaking Mayan population of Guatemala, Int Quart Community Health Educ 12,4:265-82]

Belize [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

[No data available]

Mexico (Guadeloupe,Chatino, Zapotec, Nahua, Aztec, Mixtecans, Huichol, Kickapoo, Tarahumara, Maya, Tepoztlán, Tzeltal) (®Mexican Americans) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index] [IES]

Amuchastegui Herrera[99] studied the concept of virginity and sexual relationships in Mexico.

Some data are available on homosexual behaviour before ejacularche in urban Mexican male homosexuals (Carrier, 1976)[100]. Carrier states that the "high level of sexual awareness among males in Mexico appears to be partly the result of the sexual stimuli presented them from birth onward by the scolding, joking, and public media. By the time they reach puberty, they are especially aware of the availability and acceptability of effeminate males as alternative sexual outlets". 26 of 47 had prepubertal homosexual contacts with postpubertal males, 17 of 18 homosexuals scoring high on "effeminacy" had. Carrier (1980:p109; 1985)[101] reported a large proportion of Mexican men had sexual relations with nephews, cousins or neighbours between the ages of 6 and 9.

"Some post-pubertal males utilize pre-pubertal boys as sexual outlets prior to marriage, and, fater marriage, continue to utilize both heterosexual and homosexual outlets. […] [These males] usually initiate sexual encounters with pre-pubertal effeminate boys who are relatives, nephews or cousins, or neighbors. Because of the proximity of these pre-pubertal boys, the interested post-pubertal males may maintain long-term sexual relationships with them. While these homosexual relationships are going on, the older males also have novias [prospectives brides], and occasionally have sexual relationships with available neighbourhood girls or prostitutes. The sexual relationships with the younger males are usually terminated when the older males marry. The older males, however, may continue occasional homosexual contacts with older males after marriage". The pattern seems lateral to a second in which males have durable relationships with novias between the onset of puberty and marriage.

"Adolescent males are […] pressured while in their early teens, (often at the first signs of puberty) by their brothers, male cousins, and/or friends to prove their masculinity by having intercourse with prostitutes or available neighborhood girls. […] from an early age onward effeminate males in Mexico are sexual targets for other males. All but one the author's respondents scoring on the effeminate side as a child (17 of 18) had sexual contacts with older postpubertal males prior to their first ejaculation; 13 of the 17 had contacts between 5 and 10 years of age. […] Following the onset of puberty, effeminate males continue to be sexual targets for other males […] many early homosexual encounters […] are carried out with relatives and friends of the family. This appears to be particularly true for the preadolescent effeminate male. […] Several of the prepubertal homosexual contacts with relatives, it is interesting to note, were maintained over extended periods of time" (Carrier, 1976:p368, 369, 370)[102].

Thus, the concept and terminology of unmanly homosexuality is instilled "from early childhood on" (Carrier, 1989:p133)[103]. "At the first signs of puberty, Mexican adolescents may be pressured by their brothers, male cousins, friends, or all three to prove their masculinity by having sexual intercourse with either prostitutes[104] or available neighborhood girls. By this time they are also aware of the availability and acceptability of feminine males as sexual outlets". Taylor (1978:p129-30)[105] notes that

"[m]any children have their first homosexual experience in the [steam] bath. For example, J. P. J., the respondent in Georgina Ruiz Garcia's Master's thesis (1975) [[106]] relates that he first learned about masturbation from his playmates when he went to bathe together in the bath house of their vecindad (a slum neighborhood)".

Reportedly, prostitution is a road to masculinity[107]. Visiting "boys town" brothels on the Mexican side of the border remains "a rite of passage" for some young American men, who cross the border looking for mostly heterosexual adventure (Cantu, 2002:p164n27)[108]. The Latin prostitution experience may commonly be like that of Mario Vargas Llosa:

"When he was a child, the word puta [whore] filled him with both horror and fascination. And during adolescence, his experiences with prostitutes are a source of pleasure as well as a nagging guilt for having participated in the degradation of poor women"[109].

In a study on Spanish-speaking people of San Jose, Clark (1970:p135)[110] noted: "Parents avoid sexual discussions with preadolescent children except for giving them general instructions to "stay away from the boys" or "leave the girls alone". In a Sierra Tarascan village (Beals, 1946 [1973:p178])[111] it is claimed that most young people before marriage have no sexual experience. Menarche occurs at about age 14. Originally an Aztec rite, in a girl's Quinceañera, or Latina Sweet Fifteen[112], the sexual is primarily symbolic and "[…] also acknowledged by the instruction and preparation that some parishes use to prepare the young people involved in the quinceañera" (Cantú). "Masturbation by small boys is simply ignored by everyone even though it be in public" (p173). Napolitano[113] analysed the celebration of girls' fifteenth birthdays in a low-income neighbourhood of Guadalajara, Mexico:

"The ritual represents the beginning of a phase in a girl's life which will be completed upon her wedding celebration. This period is identified as a time of "illusion", because it is a time when representations of the nature of sexual relations and life differ sharply from the "reality" of life after marriage. […] The fifteenth birthday celebration coincides with the acknowledgment by the family (especially the father) that a daughter is ready to have a sweetheart (if she does not have one already). The father gives her the permiso de porta (literally the license of the door), the authorization to see her boyfriend on the threshold of the house for a set period during the evening. […] The celebration, through the emotional experience and the symbolism of the ball, the waltz and the dress, formally introduces girls into a "new sexual world", and at the same time "defends" them from it".

Mexican parents adhered to what they called a "discreet silence" on sex matters, causing "blessed ignorance", however condemned by an advisory committee in the 1930s (Ebaugh, 1936)[114]. The Ministry of Public Education tried to initiate a sexual education program in Mexico City's primary schools[115]. The project faced powerful opposition from the Catholic hierarchy and parents' organizations, so it was never implemented. Thus, "[s]ex education by the mother was never approached as a part of a young girl's training in traditional families in rural Mexico"[116]. Davies[117]:

"Girls are conditioned from an early age to accept that when they grow up, they will become mothers and women come to believe that only the maternal role will truly fulfil them. Simone de Beauvoir emphasises this. She says: 'From infancy, woman is repeatedly told that she is made for childbearing, and the splendours of maternity are forever being sung to her. The drawbacks of her situation - menstruation, illnesses, and the like - and the boredom of household drudgery are all justified by this marvellous privilege she has of bringing children into the world[118]" ".

Girls in the Juan Cuamatzi municipio, Mexico, were strictly controlled in their premarital reputation by their mothers (Nutini, 1968:p85)[119]. Some may marry at age fourteen of fifteen, but commonly courtship begins at this age.

Rubio (1997)[120] stated:

"During early adolescence, 11 to 15 years of age, most adolescents begin to explore in a form of ritualized relationship called noviazgo, formally a relationship period prior to marriage. However, during early adolescence, noviazgos are commonly established without marriage as a goal. For young adolescents, it is a social way to regulate interpersonal relationships. It appears that the major part of early dyadic sexual exploration takes place in this form, though no formal data exist. At this early age, noviazgos are usually of short duration. Once an adolescent has had his or her first noviazgo, it is not difficult for either a male or female to continue with subsequent noviazgo relationships. Intercourse is usually deferred to a later age. The possibility of having had the first intercourse increases after 15 years of age: the CONAPO (1988)[121] survey found that the typical age for first intercourse is 14 to 17 years of age for males and 16 to 19 years for females […]".

Castañeda, García and Langer (1996:p135-6)[122] found that the moon analogy still exerts strong influence in the rural (and not the urban) areas of Mexico, some of the questioned women explaining menarche as "The moon takes advantage of the women before the man does, that is why she has her period. They also said that the moon breaks in the woman for the first time". "Often a woman prefers to marry young, between 10 and 14 years old, so a man will enjoy her before the moon" [menarche]. Allowing that the moon is a female deity, possessing male attributes, it might be concluded that "in the deflowering myth of the moon, whereby the moon is a woman, the virginity loss is partial and will be fully accomplished with the human act of the man".

[Additional refs:]

CRLP (1997) Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives: Latin America and the Caribbean, p145-62. Also Progress Report, 2000, p63-70; Baird, T. L. (1993) Mexican Adolescent Sexuality: Attitudes, Knowledge, and Sources of Information, Hispanic J Behav Sci 15,3:402-17; Moreno-Castellanos, E. (1998) Aspectos estructurales de la identidad sexo-generica en el niño preescolar, Arch Hispanoam Sexol 4,2:307-34; Rubenstein, A. (1998) Raised voices in the cine montecarlo: Sex education, mass media, and oppositional politics in Mexico, J Fam Hist 23,3:312 et seq., section "The Politics of Sex Education". In 16th century Seville (Mexico), the seises (choir boys) were castrated to preserve their soprano voices (Spell, 1946:p296)[123].

Guadeloupe (Mexico) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

[Additional refs.: Simet-Lutin (1980)[124]]

Chatino (Oaxaca, Mexico) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Among the Chatino of Oaxaca (Greenberg, personal communication cited in Schlegel and Barry, 1991)[125], girls marry about age 11, but sexual relations do not begin until menarche is reached.

Zapotecs (unrated) (Mexico) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

According to the sources of Williams (1986)[126], boys commonly become sexually active with men during early puberty if not earlier[127]. "Boys who later became berdache often began their sexual experiences before puberty" (p99-100; see also p45-54).

Nahua (Central Mexico) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Duarte Barbosa[128] observed defloration of 10-year-old Indian girls by the lingam (phallus) in the beginning of the 16th century in southern Dekhan.

Aztec children played marriage from age five (Madsen, 1960:p86)[129].

Aztec (3,4,3,5,4-,4-,4;2,1; pinpointed 1520) (Mexico) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Girls among the ancient Aztec (Nahua) married before age 15, and in many cases before 12 (McCaa, 1997; cf. 1996)[130]: "Children became adults upon marriage, and most children above the age of 10 years were married (or widowed, separated or abandoned)". Females married very young, according to the narrative evidence from the Book of Tributes (Cline, 1993:p31-2)[131]. Quantitative analysis of these data places the average for females below the age of thirteen, and that for males above age nineteen (McCaa, 1996:p18-27). It was hypothesized that infant marriage was institutional possibly in defense of a high mortality rate.

Mixtecans (Mexico) (unrated) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

"Handling of a child's penis buy other children or an adult is expected to have a calming effect" (Ravicz and Romney, 1969:p397)[132]. Children learn about conception "at an early age by asking about cattle that are brought together for breeding purposes. There is little secrecy about the matter although there may be some jesting by the men" (Romney and Romney, 1963:p634-5)[133].

"Socialization of various kinds of sex behavior, including such things as modesty and imitative sex play and masturbation, is handled in a rather casual way during early childhood. There are no specific or severe rules concerning any of these activities at the beginning of early childhood. […] there is a gradual learning process regarding modesty during early childhood. Masturbation and imitative sex play between small children are treated with equal casualness. Parents and caretakers tend to be very permissive concerning these activities at the beginning of early childhood and gradually extinguish such activities, mainly through ridicule, toward the end of that stage. The observations of these activities indicate that masturbation and imitative sex play are not particularly common although by no means unusual" (p659-60).

Huichol (Mexico) (2,2,2+,2+,3-,3-;3,3) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Boys and girls play together without restriction; virginity is not valued other than in theory (Klineberg, 1934:p454-5)[134]. Huichol girls are married at age 13 to 18, boys at age 15 to 24 (Grimes and Hinton, 1969:p812)[135].

Kickapoo (Mexico) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

[Additional refs.: Diaz-Guerrero, R. (1986) Child and family in Mexico, J Hum Behav & Learning 3,3:13-24]

Tarahumara (Mexico) (unrated) (eHRAF) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

After the age of seven or eight, girls no longer can play freely with boys, and become very shy for the opposite sex; parents live in fear of sexual assault upon their daughters (Fried, [1951]:p148-9, 168)[136]. Fried (1969:p868-9)[137] states that girl's modesty begins at age 8. Male sexual intercourse begins with full tesgüinada participation.

"Girls are taught to be modest in their dress and never expose such body parts as legs, sexual organs, or breasts. Three informants stated that even in marriage the women are still careful about exposing themselves before their husbands. During sexual intercourse wives do not remove their clothes. After the age of seven or eight, girls no longer can play freely with boys. This is the age at which the work assignments of girls and boys become differentiated, the girls now spending their time aiding their mothers, and the boys assisting their fathers. It is assumed that children of this age are able to care for themselves without much supervision. Children range far from home with the herds, but young girls, unlike boys, may not go far from the house if they are unaccompanied. Parents fear that young girls will be sexually assaulted if they are alone, and they communicate this fear to their daughters. It is at this age that girls become very shy of men and boys. This attitude of shyness continues as an outstanding characteristic of the female aspect when she is in the company of a male who is not a close relative. She will never look directly into the eyes of a man, but will gaze down or gaze fixedly at some point in space with one hand against her cheek. It is during the tesguinada that this restrained reserve breaks down under the influence of corn beer, and the woman may become the initiator of the sex act. She tosses pebbles at a man to attract his attention, then walks off to some secluded spot where they can meet. All adult informants (unfortunately they were all males) believed that mothers do not instruct their daughters in matters of sex. They are apparently not even warned of the onset of menstruation, for it is said that girls then become terrified. This first menstruation is not recognized by ceremonial observances. There are no menstrual taboos placed upon women. Active sexual participation is begun with tesguinada attendance. There, from both observation and participation, or at least vicariously through conversation, the young learn of sexual matters. Children have ample opportunity to observe the behavior of adults during tesguinadas held in their houses. Girls at the Indian school of Sisoguichic stated that mothers taught them to be `ashamed' in the presence of men, not to engage in conversation with them, and not to go off with them alone into the mountains or secluded places. Masturbation by boys was acknowledged by all informants. No particular sentiment against this practice was voiced. There is a joking attitude taken toward it and it is not considered harmful" ([1951:p148-50]).

Maya (Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, Guatemala) (eHRAF) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Redfield (1934 [1962:p191])[138] on Maya parental sexual enlightment:

"It is regarded as unwise and improper to explain matters of sex and procreation to children, and no deliberate instruction in the subject is given. All the older people think it best that children should remain ignorant of the changes of puberty, of sexual intercourse, pregnancy and childbirth until they actually experience these phenomena in their own persons. A phrase often used is, "Children ought not to be where the grown-ups are", and sexual matters are before them covered with veils of silence and secrecy. […] this policy of secrecy with regard to the young people is impossible of exercise in the intimacy and simplicity of the village life. Both girls and boys, at nine and ten years of age, begin to learn and make use of phrases and stories of double meaning or illicit suggestion[139]. Many, probably most, young children have understanding of the nature of sexual intercourse. This knowledge depends upon individual circumstances. One or two young girls of the village had no knowledge of the sexual act before their marriage, except for the vague explanations of their mothers just before the marriages took place[140]. But in most cases, in spite of the policy of secrecy, because they sleep beside their married brothers, children come early to know something of the nature of sexual intercourse, and will sometimes joke with or ask questions of their married elders with a view to embarrass them. It is also true that in the context of animal husbandry sexual matters are subject to scarcely any taboo. An entire family will gather to watch with satisfaction the impregnation of a sow by a boar rented for the purpose. While as a rule children reach adolescence with a strong interest in and usually a fair knowledge of sexual intercourse, they know next to nothing about the changes of puberty or of pregnancy and parturition. The first menstruation comes to the girl as a surprise attended with fear. In the cases known to us the girl secreted herself in alarm or even terror, until found by some older woman who explained the meaning of her soiled garments, and instructed her not to speak of it to anyone. So little do young people know of the course of child-bearing that in many cases the young husband, as well as the wife, will fail to suspect the first pregnancy in its early stages for what it is. Then the girl's mother or some older person will instruct her, or will turn her over to the care of the midwife" (p191-2).

Redfield later (1962:p133)[141] would note stability in this respect: "As was the case in 1931, the concern of parents over their children is greatest in connection with marriage and first sexual relations, although no particular age is recognized as an age of difficulty; and I do not think that there is any concept of adolescence. […] Nothing was said to me to suggest that any attempt is made now, as none was made before, to instruct young people in matters of sex; some learn such matters early by observation and chance information; others learn little about it until marriage". Villa Rojas (1945)[142]:

"From the age of seven onward, differences of character and interest between the sexes begin to be marked. […] Topics dealing with sex or reproduction are discussed more privately, or at least such is the intention of adults, in order that they do not come to the knowledge of children […]. Menstruation appears between the ages of twelve and fourteen and is often regarded by the girls as an unfortunate and unforeseen event. Generally, after it occurs, the mother tries to reassure the girl, and in private explains to her its significance. No ceremony or rite marks this physiological change. […] By the time they reach adolescence, boys and girls know about sexual relations. Married couples and unmarried members of the household occupy the same room, and sleep in adjacent hammocks, so that children do not tremain ignorant of sexual matters for very long" (p146).

Children are given no information about sex prior to marriage (Nash, 1970:p113, 275)[143].

No different view is offered by Elmendorf (1976)[144] "I didn't think that they told their children directly, but it seemed impossible for a child not to learn something about it, living together in such close quarters. I had asked Anita where she and her husband had their sexual life—in the room with the children, or in another room". The women considered it a sin to inform a girl of menstruation before it occurrred, or to explain sex before marriage (p7). Pubescent girls begin "pronounced sexual activity" at fourteen, typically with older boys and men (p70).

None of the mentioned authors make statements on sexual behaviour before puberty.

"The genitalia of girls are covered either by short underpants, long huipil, or both. Boys are allowed to run about naked or with short shirts only. By three, however, they are fully clothed. A naked or partially exposed child of three or four is a matter for negative comment by elders" (Press, 1975)[145]. "By the time they reach adolescence, boys and girls know about sexual relations. Married couples and unmarried members of the household occupy the same room, and sleep in adjacent hammocks, so that children do not remain ignorant of sexual matters for very long. It is a matter of great concern, however, to see that one never exposes the sexual organs. Both sexes maintain the strictest privacy when bathing or performing natural functions" (Villa Rojas).

Tepoztlán (Mexico) (Redfield / Lewis) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Redfield (1930:p139n2)[146]found no information on sex instruction or early sex experience. Lewis (1961)[147] did. "The questions we asked about the sex play of children received a blanket denial from parents, who maintained that their children were innocent and knew nothing of life. But from the life stories we gathered, it was clear that sex play does occur secretively and in games" (p74). "In the past girls when girls married before puberty, it was widely believed that menstruation was caused by sexual intercourse. This belief has still not been entirely eradicated" (p78). Although denied and un-remembered, children might observe parental sexual intercourse (Lewis, 1951:p326)[148]. Specifically, (p291): "Sexuality is discouraged from childhood on; sex is a taboo subject within the home. Infant sexuality, masturbation, and sexual play among children, as well as curiosity concerning the bodily functions, is forbidden and punished. It is one of the more important obligations of the parent to keep the children "innocent", or, as they say, "to keep their eyes from being opened". The separation of the sexes for work and play begins from about age seven to ten and is strictly enforced at puberty. […] Girls are unprepared for menstruation […]".

Tzeltal (unrated) (Mexico) (eHRAF) [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

"Children are given no information about sex prior to marriage, and girls remain entirely innocent. They may be pregnant several months before they are aware of what is happening. The complete sexual segregation in work tasks and play during adolescence makes the relationship between sexes strained", an organisation contrasting the continuity in occupational adjustment from early childhood to adulthood (Nash, 1970)[149].

Stross (1970:p63-4)[150]: "When girls reach eight or so they sometimes play games relating to sex and marriage. One group that I noticed was squatting in a banana grove while the leader passed out unripe bananas to the other girls saying, "this is your wife, and this is your wife, and this is my wife", until each was appointed the care of her own banana-wife. Later they changed roles, turning the bananas into drunken husbands. At about this age or earlier girls will search for and find the [.] , a small worklike antlion that is supposed to be placed on the nipples of a woman's breasts so that it will bite and make the breasts grow".

According to Hunt (1962:p94)[151]: "After the first menstruation (and sometimes a little before if they show signs of maturity), they change from the light cotton skirt into the traditional dark bluenagua (tubular skirt) and redfaja (sash), and are considered marriageable (solteritas ortek' el)".

Unspecified SCCS Tribes rated for Sexual Socialisation: Latin and South Americas [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Callinago (-,-,-,-)

Warrau (2,2,2,2)

Barama Carib (2-,2-,2,2)

Mundurucu (3-,3-,3-,3-)

Inca (2,2,2,2)

Nambicuara (2,2,2,2)

Lengua (2,2,2,2)

Abipon (3,4,3,4)

Teheuiche (2,2,-,3+)

Index to Section [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

[1] Wilson, P. J. (1969) Reputation and Respectability: A Suggestion for Caribbean Ethnology, Man, N. S. 4,1:70-84

[2]Green, H. B. (1960)Comparison of nurturance and independence training in Jamaica and Puerto Rico, with consideration of the resulting personality structure and transplanted social patterns,J Soc Psychol 51:27-63

[3] Francoeur, R. T. (1990) Current religious doctrines of sexual and erotic development in childhood, in Perry, M. E. (Ed.) Handbook of Sexology volume VII: Childhood and Adolescent Sexology. Amsterdam: Elsevier, p80-112

[4] Beals, C. (1961) Sex life in Latin America, in Ellis, A. & Abarbanel, A. (Eds.) The Encyclopaedia of Sexual Behavior, Volume 2. London: W. Heinemann, p599-613

[5] Carrim, Rh. L. (2000) Attitudes toward Sexuality and Spiritual Well-Being among Nazarene Pastors in the English-Speaking Caribbean. Diss., Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary

[6] Waite, N. A. (1993) Caribbean Sexuality: A Pastoral Counsellor Looks at Family Patterns and the Influences of Culture on Caribbean People. Winston-Salem, NC: Moravian Church in America

[7] Chevannes, B. (1992) Sexual Practices and Behaviour in Jamaica: A Review of the Literature. Washington, D.C.: AIDSCOM Academic for Educational Development

[8] ECPAT International, Online Database [http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp]

[9] Cauley, A. P. et al. (October, 1995) Meeting the Needs of Young Adults. Population Reports 23,3. Population Information Program, Center for Communication Programs, The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, table 2

[10] Singh, S., Wulf, D., Samara, R. & Cuca, Y. P.(2000) Gender Differences in the Timing of First Intercourse: Data from 14 Countries, Int Fam Plann Perspect26,1:21-8, 43

[11] Wulf, D. & Singh, S. (1991) Sexual activity, union, and childbearing among adolescent women in the Americas, Int Fam Plann Perspect 17,4:137-44

[12] Singh, S. & Samara, R. (1996) Early marriage among women in developing countries, Int Fam Plann Perspect 22,4:148-57, 175, at p151

[13] Stone, D. (1962) The Talamancan Tribes of Costa Rica. Cambridge, Mass.: Peabody Museum

[14] Biesanz, M. H., Biesanz, R. & Biesanz, K. Z. (1999) The Ticos. Boulder [etc.]: Lynne Rienner

[15]Castellanos-Simons, B. & Gonzalez-Hernandez, A. (1981) La educacion sexual frente al problema de las relaciones sexuales precoces en los adolescents, Boletin Psicol Cuba 4,3:44-58

[16] DeSantis, L. & Thomas, J. T. (1987) Parental attitudes toward adolescent sexuality: transcultural perspectives, Nurse Pract 12,8:43-8

[17] Martinez Madan, E., Salazar Ramirez, M., Parada Rodriguez, D. M. & Cardoso Campo, A. M. (1992) [The sexuality of adolescents from 14 to 19 in a given population], Rev Cubana Enferm 8,2:101-10

[18] Pradere-Campo, E., Perez-Lovelle, R., Martinez-Canalejo, H. & Gomez-Arbesus, Y-J.

La adolescente embarazada: Estudio de algunos factores psicosociales, Rev Hospital Psiquia Habana 28,4:639-45

[19]Duharte Osorio, A. (1987)Valoracion de algunos conocimientos sobre la sexualidad en un grupo de la poblacion [Evaluation of knowledge about sexuality in a population group, Temas de Trabajo Social 9,1:1-14

[20]Malas Palabras: Talking Dirty in Cuban Spanish, Maledicta 1977, 1,1:19-22

[21] Labat, P. (1724) Nouvelle Voyage aux Isles de L'Amerique 1693-1705, à la Haya. Vol.II

[22] Karsch-Haack, F. (1911) Das Gleichgeschlechtliche Leben der Naturvölker. München: E. Reinhardt

[23] Piternella, 2002, personal communication

[24] Piternella, Dissertation in progress, financially supported by the Dr. Mr. E. Brongersma Foundation, Amsterdam

[25] Rose, J. (1994) Songs from the Village: An Ethnography of Gender, Reproduction, and Sexuality in St. Lucia, West Indies. PhD Diss., Southern Methodist University

[26]Andre, J. (1985) Le coq et la jarre. Le sexuel et le feminin dans les societés afro-caribéennes, Homme 25,4/96:49-75

[27] Baumgartner, J. M. (1994) Challanged Manliness: A Social and Symbolic Perspective on Sexuality and Divorce in Puerto Rico. Diss., University of Michigan

[28] Bejin, A. & Guadilla, N. G. (1984) Sept theses erronées sur le machisme latino-americain, Cah Int Sociol 31, 76:21-8. For more on Puerto Rican maschismo and virginity complex, see Fernandez-Mendez, Eu. (1955) La familia Puertorriquena de hoy: Como la ve el antropologo social, Pedagog Rio Piedras 3,2:35-51

[29] Mintz, S. W. (1956) Cañamelar: the subculture of a rural sugar plantation proletariat, in Steward, H. J. (Ed.) The People of Puerto Rico. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, p314-417. Cf. Mintz, S. W. (1951) Cañamelar: The Contemporary Culture of a Rural Puerto Rican Proletariat. Unpubl. PhD Diss, Columbia University. Ch. 6, p42. Quoted by Stycos (1955:p42). "A two-year-old boy will be asked, "What is it for?" while an adult pulls at his penis; and sometimes the child will answer, "For women". Such a child is called malo (bad) or even malcria'o (badly brought up), but actually the terms are used with some measure of approval".

[30] Cf. Stycos, J. M. (1952) Family and Fertility in Puerto Rico, Am Sociol Rev 17,5:572-80, at p574; Duerr, H. P. (1988) Nacktheit und Scham. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp. Vol. 1 of Der Mythos vom Zivilizationprocess. 2nd ed., p207-8, 209

[31] Manners, R. A. (1956) Tabara: subcultures of a Tobacco and mixed crops Municipality, in Steward, J. H. et al. (Eds.) The People of Puerto Rico. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, p93-170

[32] Stycos, J. M. (1955) Family and Fertility in Puerto Rico. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press

[33] Seda, E. P. (1956) Nocorá: the subculture of workers on a government-owned sugar plantation, in Steward, J. H. et al. (Eds.) The People of Puerto Rico. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, p265-313

[34] Rivero, E. B. (1975) Educacion sexual en Puerto Rico, Rev Cienc Soc 19,2:167-91

[35] Montesinos, L. & Preciado, J. (1997) Puerto Rico, in Francoeur, R. T. (Ed.) The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. New York: Continuum, Vol. 3. Quoted from the online edition

[36] The model of the obedient and docile female.

[37] Burgos, N. M., & Diaz-Perez. Y. I. (1985) La Sexualidad: Analisis Exploratorio en la Cultura Puertoriquena. Puerto Rico: Centro de Investigaciones Sociales

[38] Lewis, O. (1965) La Vida: A Puerto Rican Family in the Culture of Poverty San Juan and New York. New York: Vintage Books, p.xxvi. From the 1968 Panther edition (p30): "There is a remarkable franknes and openness about sex, and little effort is made to hide the facts of life from children. Although the children in the Ríos family have many problems, they do not suffer from parental secrecy and dishonesty about sex. The male children are erotically stimulated by their mothers and by other members of the family, who take a pride in the child's every erection as an indication of his virility and machismo. Masturbation is generally not punished. In the Rícos family early sexual experience for boys and girls is accepted as almost inevitable, even though ideally mothers are supposed to keep their young daughters under control".

[39] Padilla, E. N. (1951) Nocora: An Agrarian Reform Sugar Community in Puerto Rico. Unpubl. PhD Diss., Columbia University. Ch.8, p3. Cited by DeMause (1991) and by quoted by Stycos (1955:p42): "Parents and their friends may play with the genitals of baby boys until the child is about seven years old. The size of the boys' genitals is talked about as an index of his potential masculinity".

[40] Fernández-Marina, R. (1961) The Puerto Rican syndrome: its dynamics and cultural determinants, Psychiatry 24:79-82

[41]Green, H. B. (1960)Comparison of nurturance and independence training in Jamaica and PuertoRico, with consideration of the resulting personality structure and transplanted social patterns,J Soc Psychol 51:27-63

[42] Villanueva, M. I. M. (1997) The Social Construction of Sexuality: Personal Meanings, Perceptions of Sexual Experience, and Females' Sexuality in Puerto Rico. Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

[43] Cf. Baumgartner (1994:p313)

[44] Landy, D. (1959) Tropical Childhood. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press

[45] Maccoby (1954:p382-4)

[46] Wolf, K. R. (1952) Growing up and its price in three Puerto Rico sub-cultures, Psychiatry 15:401-33

[47] O'neill, M. R. (1990) Puerto Rican and New England College Students' Reports of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Sexual Experiences: A Comparison Study. Diss., University Of Massachusetts

[48] Padilla, E. (1958) Up from Puerto Rico. New York: Columbia University Press

[49] Cf. Rainwater, L. (1964) Marital Sexuality in Four Cultures of Poverty, J Marr & Fam 26,4:457-66

[50] Alvarez, C. (1988) El Hilo Que Nos Une/ The thread that binds us: becoming a Puerto Rican woman, Oral Hist Rev 16:29-40

[51] Irizarry, J. (1993) A comparison of adolescent reproductive behavior of Puerto Rican women in New York and Puerto Rico, DAI 53(11-B): 5668

[52]Lucca, N. & Pacheco, A. M. (1986) Children's graffiti: Visual communication from a developmental perspective, J Genet Psychol 147,4:465-79

[53] Comas-Diaz, L. (1995) Puerto Ricans and sexual child abuse, in Fontes, L. A. (Ed.) Sexual Abuse in Nine North American Cultures: Treatment and Prevention. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc; Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc., p31-66

[54] Fontes, L. A. (1992) Considering culture and oppression in child sex abuse: Puerto Ricans in the United States, DAI 53(6-A):1797; and Fontes, L. A. (1993) Disclosures of sexual abuse by Puerto Rican children: Oppression and cultural barriers, J Child Sex Abuse 2,1:21-35. Fontes argues that cultural factors inhibiting disclosure of child sexual abuse include childrearing practices, the value placed on virginity, and taboos against discussing sex.

[55] Asencio, M. W. (1999) Machos and sluts: gender, sexuality, and violence among a cohort of Puerto Rican adolescents, Med Anthropol Quart, NS 13,1:107-26

[56]Villarruel, A. M. (1998)Cultural influences on the sexual attitudes, beliefs, and norms of young Latina adolescents,J Soc Pediatr Nurses 3,2: 69-79

[57] Danielsson, B. ([1954] 1956) Love in the South Seas. (transl. F. Lyon). London: Allen & Unwin

[58] Cook, J. (1777) An Account of a Voyage around the World. Hawkesworth, Ed., Vol.1, p206

[59] Ellis, W. (1782) An Authenic Narrative of a Voyage Performed by Captain Cook and Captain Clerke […]. London: Robinson; 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 (etc.): Springer, p422-44, see p433

[60] Simpson, G. E. (1943) Sexual and familial institutions in Northern Haiti, Am Anthropol 44:655-74

[61] Underwood, F. W. & Honigmann, I. (1947) A comparison of socialization and personality in two simple societies, Am Anthropol 49:557-77. Reprinted in Haring, D. G. (Ed., 1956) Personal Character and Cultural Milieu. Syracuse

[62] DeSantis, L. & Thomas, J. T. (1987) Parental attitudes toward adolescent sexuality: transcultural perspectives, Nurse Pract 12,8:43-8

[63]Green, H. B. (1960)Comparison of nurturance and independence training in Jamaica and Puerto Rico, with consideration of the resulting personality structure and transplanted social patterns,J Soc Psychol 51:27-63

[64] MacCormack, C. P. & Draper, A. (1987) Social and cognitive aspects of female sexuality in Jamaica, in Caplan, P. (Ed.) The Cultural Construction of Sexuality. London & New York: Tavistock Publ., p143-65

[65] Roberts, G. W. & Sinclair, S. A. (1978) Women in Jamaica. Millwood, NY: KTO Press

[66] Brody, E. (1981) Sex, Contraception and Motherhood in Jamaica. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

[67] Clarke, S. C. (1957) My Mother Who Fathered Me. London: George Allen & Unwin

[68] Allen, S. M. (1982) Adolescent Pregnancy among 11-15 Year Old Girls in the Parish of Manchester. Diss., University of the West Indies

[69] Thompson, T. (1982) Views of 13-15 Year Olds in High and Secondary School in Hanover Concerning their Parents / Guardians as Sex Educators. Diss., University of the West Indies

[70] Blake, J. (1961) Family Structure in Jamaica. New York: Glencoe

[71] Greenfeld, S. M. (1966) English Rustics in Black Skin. New Haven: College & University Press. "Repeated admonitions about "staying away from boys", young informants complained, never include a discussion of "what to stay away from" ".

[72] Kerr, M. (1963) Personality and Conflict in Jamaica. London: Collins

[73] Hendriques, F. (1953) Family and Colour in Jamaica. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode

[74] Sanford, M. (1975) To be treated as a child of the home, in Williams, Th. R. (Ed.) Socialzation and Communication in Primary Groups. The Hague & Paris: Mouton, p159-81

[75] Olenick, I. (1999) Among Young Jamaicans, Sex and Childbearing Often Begin During Adolescence, Intl Fam Plann Perspect 25,4:206-7

[76] Mukerjee, D. (1982) A Study of the Characteristics and Communit Leadership Role of Family Planning Acceptors Attending the Community Health Centre [etc.]. Diss., University of the West Indies

[77] Murphy, V. J. (1982) Factors Associated with Adolescent Pregnancy in St. Vincent and the Grendaines. Diss., University of the West Indies

[78] Rubenstein, H. (1987) Coping With Poverty. Boulder: Westview Press. "Children learn the rudiments of sexual behavior either by eavesdropping on the coversations of adults, through information imparted by older friends, or through youthful experimentation with another child. Initiation into sexual activity is variable. A few girls are sexually active by the age of 10, sometimes with men many times their senior, and a few boys begin to experiment, usually with girls several years older than them, from about the age of eight. Most villagers, however, do not begin full sexual activity until their mid teens".

[79] Warren, Ch. W., Powell, D., Morris, L., Jackson, J. & Hamilton, P. (1988) Fertility and Family Planning Among Young Adults in Jamaica, Int Fam Plann Perspect 14,4:137-41. See also Morris, L. (1988) Young Adults in Latin America and the Caribbean: Their Sexual Experience and Contraceptive Use, Int Fam Plann Perspect 14,4:153-8

[80] Eggleston, E., Jackson, J. & Hardee, K. (1999) Sexual Attitudes and Behavior Among Young Adolescents in Jamaica, Int Fam Plann Perspect 25,2:78-84, 91

[81] Jackson, J., Leitch, J. & Lee, A. (July, 1998) The Jamaica Adolescent Study. Final Report. Women's Studies Project, Family Health International Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

[82] Eggleston, E., Leitch, J. & Jackson, J. (2000) Consistency of Self-Reports of Sexual Activity among Young Adolescents in Jamaica, Int Fam Plann Perspect 26,2:79-83

[83] Cohen, Y. A. (1955) Character formation and social structure in a Jamaican community, Psychiatry 18,3:275-96

[84] Morris, L. (1988) Young Adults in Latin America and the Caribbean: Their Sexual Experience and Contraceptive Use, Int Fam Plann Perspect 14,4:153-8

[85] Marshall, D. S. ([1999]) Cuna Folk: A Conceptual Scheme Involving the Dynamic Factors of Culture, As Applied to the Cuna Indians of Darien. [New Haven, Conn.: HRAF, 1999]

[86] Nordenskiöld, E. (1938) An Historical and Ethnological Survey of the Cuna Indians. Göteborg, Sweden: Göteborg Museum

[87] Stout, D. B. (1947) San Blas Cuna Acculturation: An Introduction. New York: [s.n.]

[88] Zelaya, E., Marín, F. M., García, J., Berglund, S., Liljestrand, J. & Persson, L. A. (1997) Gender and social differences in adolescent sexuality and reproduction in Nicaragua, J Adolesc Health 21,1:39-46

[89] Kalk, A. et al. (2001) Influences on condom use among young men in Managua, Nicaragua, Culture, Health & Sex 3,4:469-81

[90] Rivers, K. & Aggleton, P. (2001) Adolescent Sexuality, Gender, and the HIV Epidemic, Bull of Exp Treatm for AIDS [BETA], Summer-Autumn:35-9, at p38

[91] Wickham, H. A. (1895) Notes on the Soumoo or Woolwa Indians, of Blewfields River, Mosquito Territory, J Anthropol Instit Great Britain & Ireland 24:198-208

[92] Remez, L. (1999) In Honduras, Men Now Have an Average of Five Children, but Consider a Family of Three to Be Ideal, Int Fam Plann Perspect 25,3:154-6

[93] Cowgill, U. M. & Hutchinson, G.E. (1963) Sex Ratio in Childhood and the Depopulation of the Peten, Guatemala, Human Biol 35:90-104

[94] DeMause, L. (1989) The role of adaptation and selection in psychohistorical evolution, J Psychohist 16,4:355-71

[95] Herold, J. M., Monterroso, Eu., Morris, L., Castellanos, G., Conde, A. & Spitz, A. (1988) Sexual Experience and Contraceptive Use Among Young Adults in Guatemala City, Int Fam Plann Perspect 14,4:142-6+158. See also Morris, L. (1988) Young Adults in Latin America and the Caribbean: Their Sexual Experience and Contraceptive Use, Int Fam Plann Perspect 14,4:153-8

[96] Redfield, R. (1943) Culture and education in the Midwestern Highlands of Guatemala, Am J Sociol 48:640-8. Reprinted in Middleton, J. (Ed., 1970) From Child to Adult. New York: Natural History Press, p287-300

[97] Paul, L. & Paul, B. D. (1963) Changing marriage patterns in a Highland Guatemalan community, Southwest J Anthropol 19,2:131-48

[98] Wagley, Ch. (1949) The Social and Religious Life of a Guatemalan Village. American Anthropological Association

[99] Amuchastegui Herrera, A. (1999) Dialogue and the negotiation of meaning: Constructions of virginity in Mexico, Culture, Health & Sexuality 1,1:79-93. Also Amuchástegui Herrera, A. (1994) El Significado de la Virginidad y la Iniciación Sexual para Jóvenes Mexicanos. Reporte de investigación. The Population Council/UAM-Xochimilco, México; Amuchástegui Herrera, A. (1996) El significado de la virginidad y la iniciación sexual: Un relato de investigación, in Szasz, I. & Susana, L. (Eds.) Para Comprender la Subjetividad: Investigación Cualitativa en Salud Reproductiva y Sexualidad. México: El Colegio de México, p137-72; Amuchástegui Herrera, A. (1998) La dimensión moral de la sexualidad y de la virginidad en las culturas híbridas Mexicanas, Relaciones 19(74):101-34; Amuchástegui Herrera, A. (2001) Virginidad e Iniciación Sexual: Experiencias y Significados. EDAMEX, S.A. de C.V. y Population Council

[100] Cf. Carrier, J. M. (1976) Cultural factors affecting urban Mexican male homosexual behavior, Arch Sex Behav 5,2:103-24

[101] Carrier, J. M. (1980) Homosexual behavior in cross-cultural perspective, in Marmor, J. (Ed.) Homosexual Behavior: a Modern Reappraisal. New York: Basic Books; Carrier, J. M. (1985) Mexican Male Bisexuality, in Klein F. & Wolf, T. (Eds.) Bisexualities: Themes and Research. New York Hayworth Press, p75-85/ J Homosex 11,1/2

[102] Carrier, J. M. (1976) Family Attitudes and Mexican Male Homosexuality, Urban Life 5,3:359-75

[103] Carrier, J. M. (1989) Sexual behavior and spread of AIDS in Mexico, Med Anthropol 10:129-42

[104] Cf. Espín, O. M. (1984) Cultural and historical influences on sexuality in Hispanic/Latin women: implications for psychotherapy, in Vance, C. S. (Ed.) Pleasure and Danger. Boston [etc.]: Routledge & Kegan Paul, p149-64, at p157: "Sexually, "machismo" is expressed through an emphasis on multiple, uncomminted sexual contacts which start in adolescence. […] [M]any [Latin American] males celebrated their adolescence by visiting prostitutes. The money to pay for this sexual initiation was usually provided by fathers, uncles or older brothers. Adolescent females, however, were offered coming-out parties, the rituals of which emphasize their virginal qualities".

[105] Taylor, C. L. (1978) El Ambiente: Male Homosexual Life in Mexico City. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley

[106] Ruiz Garcia, G. (1975) La Homosexualidad en México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

[107] "Young men are encouraged to seek out prostitutes and often boast about such exploits, which provides a superficial source of anxiety-reduction in the area of sex. The prostitute plays a not unnecessary role in this subculture, for she affords a return to the early stage of receiving unconditional acceptance. Masculinity is thus demonstrated by recourse to an older woman or a woman of easy virtue, both of whom may give unconditional acceptance and restore the individual to an earlier state of infantile omnipotence" (Kiev, A. ([1968]) Curanderismo: Mexican-American Folk Psychiatry. New York: Free Press).

[108] Cantu, L. (2002) De Ambiente: Queer Tourism and the Shifting Boundaries of Mexican Male Sexualities, GLQ: J Lesbian & Gay Stud 8,1&2:139-66

[109] Ellis, R. R. (1998) The inscriptionof masculinity and whiteness in the autobiography of Mario Vargas Llosa, Bull Latin Am Res 17,2:223-36, at p229

[110] Clark, M. (1970) Health in the Mexican-American Culture. 2nd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press

[111] Beals, R. L. (1946 [1973]) Cherán: A Sierra Tarascan Village. New York: Cooper Square

[112] Cantú, N. E. (1999) La Quinceañera: Towards an Ethnographic Analysis of A Life-Cycle Ritual, Southern Folklore 56,1; King, E. (1998) Quinceañera: Celebrating Fifteen. [Quinceañera: Celebrando Los Quince]. New York: Dutton Books; Davalos, K. M. (1996) La Quinceañera: Making Gender and Ethnic Identities, Frontiers 16,2/3:101-27; Lankford, M. D. (1994) Quinceañera: A Latina's Journey into Womanhood. Brookfield, Connecticut: Millbrook Press

[113] Napolitano, V. (1997) Becoming a "Mujercita": Rituals, Fiestas and Religious Discourses. Paper prepared for delivery at the 1997 meeting of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), Continental Plaza Hotel, Guadalajara, Mexico April 17-19

[114] Ebaugh, C. D. (1936) Mexico Studies Sex Education, Social Forces 15,1:81-3

[115] Castillo-Troncoso, A. del (2000) La polemica en torno a la educacion sexual en la ciudad de Mexico durante la decada de los anos treinta: conceptos y representaciones de la infancia [The Controversy about Sexual Education in Mexico City during the Thirties: Childhood Concepts and Representations], Estud Sociol 18,52:203-26

[116] Garcia Manzanedo, H. (1980) Health and illness perceptions of the Chicana, in Melville, M. B. (Ed.) Twice a Minority: Mexican American Women. St. Louis, Missouri [etc.]: Mosby, p191-207

[117] Davies, L. (nd) Monstrous mothers and a the cult of the Virgin in Rosario Castellanos' Oficio de tinieblas.Online paper

[118] De Beauvoir, S. (1997) The Second Sex. Transl. by H. M. Parshley. London: Vintage, p508-9 [orig. footnote]

[119] Nutini, H. G. (1968) San Bernardino Contla: Marriage and Family Structure in a Tlaxcalan Muncipio. University of Pittsburgh Press

[120] Rubio, Eu. (1997) Mexico, in Francoeur, R. T. (Ed.) The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. New York: Continuum, Vol. 2. Quoted from the online edition

[121] Consejo Nacional de Población (1988) Encuesta Nacional sobre Sexualidad y Familia en Jóvenes de Educación Media Superior, 1988. Consejo Nacional de Población, México

[122]Castañeda, X., García, C. & Langer, A. (1996)Ethnography of fertility and menstruation in rural Mexico, Soc Sci Med 42,1:133-40

[123] Spell, L. M. (1946) Music in the Cathedral of Mexico in the Sixteenth Century, Hisp Am Hist Rev 26,3:293-319

[124] Simet-Lutin, M. (1980) Sexualité et enfance en Guadeloupe: situation actuelle et développement futur, in Samson, J. (Ed.) Childhood & Sexuality: Proceedings of the International Symposium. Montreal: Editions Etudes Vivantes, p311-6; Gourgues, ibid., p317-9

[125] Schlegel, A. & Barry III., H. (1991) Adolescence: An Anthropological Inquiry. New York: Free Press. As cited by Hammel, E. A. & Friou, D. (1996) Anthropology and Demography: marriage, liaison, or encounter? In Kertzer, D. & Fricke, T. (Eds.) Anthropological Demography: Toward a New Synthesis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p175-200

[126] Williams, W. (1986) The Spirit and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture. Boston: Beacon

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[127] Chiñas, B. (1984) Isthmus Zapotec Berdaches, Newsl Anthropol Res Group Homosex 7:1-4

[128]CollecÇao de Noticias para a Historia e Geografia das NaÇoes Ultramarinas [etc.] 1813, II:p304ff. Cited by Bloch, I. ([1933]) Anthropological Studies in the Strange Sexual Practises of All Races and All Ages. New York: Anthropological Press, p85

[129] Madsen, W. (1960) The Virgin's Children. New York: Greenwood

[130] McCaa, R. (1997) Child Marriage and Complex Families (Cemithualtin) among the Ancient Aztec (Nahua). Colonial History Workshop, University of Minnesota, Jan. 15, 1997. Spanish version published under the title Matrimonio infantil, cemithualtin (familias complejas) y el antiguo pueblo nahua in Hist Mex 46(1996),1:3-70

[131] Cline, S. L. (1993) The Book of Tributes. Early Sixteenth-Century Nahuatl Censuses from Morelos. Los Angeles: University of California Press

[132] Ravicz, R. & Romney, A. K. (1969) The Mixtec, in Wauchope, R. (Gen. Ed.) Handbook of Middle American Indians. Austin: University of Texas Press. Vol.7, p367-99

[133] Romney, K. & Romney, R. (1963) The Mixtecans of Juxtlahuaca, in Whiting, B. B. (Ed.) Six Cultures: Studies of Child Rearing. New York: Wiley, p545-691

[134] Klineberg, O. (1934) Notes on the Huichol, Am Anthropol 36:446-60

[135] Grimes, J. E. & Hinton, Th. B. (1969) The Huichol and Cora, in Wauchope, R. (Gen. Ed.) Handbook of Middle American Indians. Austin: University of Texas Press. Vol. 8, p792-813

[136] Fried, J. ([1951]) Ideal Norms and Social Control in Tarahumara Society. [New Haven, Conn.]: [Yale University]

[137] Fried, J. (1969) The Tarahumara, in Wauchope, R. (Gen. Ed.) Handbook of Middle American Indians. Austin: University of Texas Press. Vol. 8, p846-70

[138] Redfield, R. (1934) Chan Kom: A Maya Village. Chicago: University of Chicago Press [1962 printing]

[139] For example, a child in school upon reading a story with the title "Why is it Done at Night?" volunteered an answer to the question as he understood it: "Because it would be seen during the daytime". [orig.footnote]

[140] "I didn't know anything about it till I married. Then my mother explained it all to me. She said I had to sleep with Doso, because now I was a grown woman; and she said I shouldn't tell anyone what was going to happen to me. But I didn't understand well what my mother wanted to tell me, until after I was married." [orig.footnote]

[141] Redfield, R. (1962) A Village That Chose Progress: Chan Kom Revisited. Chicago ; London: Phoenix Books, The University of Chicago Press

[142] Villa Rojas, A. (1945) The Maya of East Central Quintana Roo. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington

[143] Nash, J. (1970) In the Eyes of the Ancestors. New Haven: Yale University Press

[144] Elmendorf, M. L. (1976) Nine Mayan Women: A Village Faces Change. Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman Pub. Co.

[145] Press, I. (1975) Tradition and Adaptation: Life in a Modern Yucatan Maya Village. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press

[146] Redfield, R. (1974) Tepoztlan: A Mexican Village. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press

[147] Lewis, O. (1961) Tepoztlan: Village in Mexico. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

[148] Lewis, O. (1951) Life in a Mexican Village: Tepoztlan Restudied. Urbana: University of Illinois Press

[149] Nash, J. C. (1970) In the Eyes of the Ancestors: Belief and Behavior in a Mayan Community. New Haven, Conn. ; London: Yale University Press

[150] Stross, B. (1970) Aspects of Language Acquisition by Tzeltal Children. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms. 1971 copy [eHRAF]

[151] Hunt, M. E. V. (1962) The Dynamics of the Domestic Group in Two Tzeltal Villages: A Contrastive Comparison. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Library

Caribbean, Middle / Central America

Geographic Index

Antilles, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Puerto Rico

Ethnographic Index

Aztec, Chatino, Cuna, Huichol, Kickapoo, Mixtecans, Maya, Nahua, Soumoo, Tarahumara, Tepoztlán, Tzeltal, Zapotec [unspecified tribes]

Contents of Section [up] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]

Caribbean Sexual Development: General Statements [up] [Contents] [Geographic Index] [Ethnographic Index]