Growing Up Sexually

VANATINAI (insular New Guinea)

More: Arapesh, Ari, Banaro, Baruya, Binim-Kukusmin, Busama, Darabi, Dobu Isl., Eipo, Etoro, Foi, Gebusi, Jaquai, Keraki, Kewa, Kimam, Kiwai, Koko, Kwoma, Lesu, Manus, Marind Anim, New Britain, New Ireland, Normanby Islanders, Paiela, “Sambia”, Trobrianders, Wogeo

Bibliography

According to Lepowsky (1990 :p190-1)[1], “[s]exual activity on Vanatinai is regarded as a pleasurable activity appropriate for men and women from adolescence to old age. […] Young people vary in the age at which they become sexually active, but it is usually in the mid-teens. Parents may tell they daughters that they are “too young” to have sex, as did the mother of one fifteen-year-old when she began to be courted by a young man whom the mother disapproved […]. On the other hand, some parents feel concerned if their daughters are not receiving lovers by the time they are in their late teens”. No institutionalised homosexuality (p192).

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

Last revised: Sept 2004