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Biased Use of Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Male Homosexuality in Human Sexuality Textbooks

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 1998 by Bruce Rind

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These omissions were errors because their use could have made Sandfort's (1983) report, so much at odds with current Western beliefs, more intelligible. Despite the suitability of the historical and cross-cultural data for Sandfort's results, it is important to consider limitations on their use for providing perspective on contemporary Western man-boy sex. Sandfort examined an unrepresentative sample of man-boy relations--those that were predominantly positive. Clinical research has presented a much different picture characterized by a wide variety of negative reactions in response to these relations, such as feelings of guilt or shame, symptoms of depression or anxiety, and sexual identity concerns (Mendel, 1995; Urquiza & Capra, 1990; Watkins & Bentovim, 1992). Clinical samples are also unrepresentative, however, as three recent reviews of the nonclinical literature have shown (Bauserman & Rind, 1997; Rind & Tromovitch, 1997; Rind, Tromovitch, & Bauserman, 1998). In a review of 59 studies based on college samples, Rind et al. found that boys' sexual experiences with significantly older individuals, many of whom were males, were 37% positive, 29% neutral, and 33% negative. Girls' sexual experiences with older persons, on the other hand, were predominately negative (72%), and only occasionally positive (11%) or neutral (18%). Moreover, male students, who as boys were willing partners in these relations, were psychologically as well adjusted as male students who had no such experiences. On the other hand, male students who were unwilling in these relations or female students with these experiences regardless of level of willingness were somewhat less well adjusted than controls. The other two reviews, one of which focused on nationally representative samples (Rind & Tromovitch, 1997), reported comparable reactions, psychological correlates, and sex differences.

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The findings from these recent reviews imply that willing man-boy sex accompanied by positive reactions may be better informed by the ancient Greek model than by models based on the female experience (e.g., rape and incest models). For unwilling man-boy sex with negative reactions, on the other hand, the latter models may be more appropriate, in which case the cross-cultural and historical perspectives seem much less informative. In short, the data on psychological correlates of and reactions to man-boy sex suggest that the cross-cultural and historical data have value for providing informative perspective on a nontrivial proportion of such cases.

A BRIEF REVIEW OF CROSS-CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL DATA ON MALE HOMOSEXUALITY

The claims of errors of commission and omission made previously are further supported by a brief review of male-male sex across time and place. Scholarly reviews of cross-cultural male homosexuality have shown that it has generally appeared in three main forms: transgenerational, transgenderal, and egalitarian (Adam, 1985; Carrier, 1980; Ford & Beach, 1951; Greenberg, 1988; Gregersen, 1983; Herdt, 1991a, 1991b; Murray, 1992; Trumbach, 1977, 1989; Williams, 1992). Transgenerational homosexuality involves sexual relations between boys or youths and significantly older males (i.e., older adolescents or adults). Transgenderal homosexuality refers to sexual relations between a masculine male and a cross-gendered male who takes on a nonmasculine gender role and acts as the passive partner. Egalitarian homosexuality consists of sexual relations between males who do not change gender roles and who are similar in age and social status. These relations typically occur between two boys or two youths, usually do not exclude heterosexual relations or marriage, and have no implication for gender identity or social identity based on sexual orientation. It is noteworthy that these scholarly reviews draw no moral distinctions between man-boy and man-man sex. Man-boy sex is presented as a form of homosexuality that often serves useful social functions rather than being classified as a form of pedophilia, socially and individually destructive in nature and hence intolerable.

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Biased Use of Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Male Homosexuality in Human Sexuality Textbooks

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 1998 by Bruce Rind

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