How does human sexuality vary across cultures?

Question

Give specific examples cross-culturally and discuss the etic view of the function of the forms of secuality in the society.

Answer 1

Human sexuality varies so much within some cultures that it is often impossible to determine how one culture differs from another on this topic.

Our culture (United States of America) is currently greatly divided on variations of human sexuality.  Some see any sexual contact between people other than two legally married adults (one male and one female) as a sexual perversion or immoral behavior.  Yet within this culture same s*x unions, fetishes, s*x out of wedlock and other behaviors are common place.

It has been well documented that the ancient Greeks condoned same s*x unions but never same s*x marriages.  Societies which have liberal rules of conduct might have a difficult time understanding the stoning of an unmarried woman for exposing more than one square inch of skin in public.  The ancient Egyptians often demanded that brother marry sister to continue the royal line.  A very young Polynesian unwed couple might have s*x in public.  An African tribe might require an uncle to deflower a maiden when she showed signs of becoming fertile.

All of these practices would be considered topics for arguments in our current society.

Answer 2

It doesn't. You are either heterosexual, homosexual or you're not fussy who you love i.e. bi-sexual. It doesn't matter where you're from.It's the man-made laws against certain sexualities that's the problem.Sexuality isn't cultural the laws against it are cultural.Your desire is your desire.We all have desire for a certain type of person.

Answer 3

You touched on a very important question there, my friend, one that's hard to answer from any standpoint, since questions like these are so engrained in our minds and are some of our most fundamental convictions.  

The most interesting case I came into contact with was found in observations of some present-day peoples on Melanesia, in which adolescent males as a rite of passage are taking under the wing of an adult male mentor, and are initiated through oral or anal intercourse.  Does that make them homosexual?  According to our Western definition, perhaps, but our definition only applies to some cultures in our part of the world.  There's obviously something symbolic in the act, a part of cultural and individual identity, a conception of the cosmos.  These teens go on to father children and society is so structured on these s*x and gender relations.

That all-too-familiar triptych of g*y/straight/bi in the West (well, in the U.S. at least) does not apply across cultures.  In my personal opinion sexuality is like a continuum with the extreme "straight" and extreme "g*y" on opposite poles (I apologize for the contradictory terminology, but our language can only express as much as what's part of our culture).  Most people would fit somewhere on the insides with the lines of g*y, straight, and bi artifically drawn somewhere.