Growing Up Sexually

RUNGUS DUSUN (Borneo, Indonesia / Malaysia)

Index → Indonesia → Borneo → Dusun → Rungus Dusun

Kayans, Dayak

See also Dusun

Among the Rungus Dusun of Sabah (Appell, [1991a])[1]  a girl receives no instruction from her mother about sexual matters. “All she knows is that if she were to engage in sex prior to marriage it would have disastrous consequences. A Rungus mother, furthermore, does not inform her daughter about menstruation” (p19, 28; Appell, 1988[2]). Flirtation and courtship must follow accepted forms, including riddles and poems with disguised meanings and special vocabularies. Apparently (p27), at least in the adult generation, marriage would occur at age 12, two years prior to menarche. A young girl refrains from being seen alone in the company of a male even before she begins to wear a sarong to cover the breasts, this taking place a year or so before she becomes “pubescent” (Appell, [1991b])[3].

“Parents may at times play affectionately with their children’s genitalia while they are still toddlers rubbing them, mouthing them, and shaking them. Occasionally older siblings do this to their younger siblings. Sometimes young boys have their genitalia tweaked by a male or female sibling, although by the time they are four or five they get rather irritated by this attention. Thus, during the early stages of child-rearing genitalia are not given an emotional loading of being potentially dangerous” (p100). Since childhood, a girl has been expected to avoid any close contact with males, so that prior to marriage, she is to express no interest in or knowledge of sexual matters, quite contrary to the realities of country life (p101).

“Usually at about ten years old—later if there are no sibling companions, earlier if there are congenial companions—a boy will begin to sleep on the apad in order to minimize the possibility of illicit sexual intercourse within the domestic family” (A., 1978:p156)[4]. “[…] a daughter receives no instruction on sex prior to her marriage” (A., [1965])[5].

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

Last revised: Sept 2004