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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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Outside Europe, pederastic relations were common and accepted in certain societies in Africa, including the Mamlukes of medieval Egypt; Islamic societies across North Africa (e.g., Morocco, Siwa) and the Azande, Mongo, Mossi, Thonga, and Zulus (Greenberg, 1988; Gregersen, 1983). In the Near East and central Asia, pederasty was also common and accepted in Islamic societies (e.g., Afghanistan, Moslem India, Pakistan, Persia, Turkey, and the Usbek Khans) (Baldauf, 1988; Greenberg, 1988). In the Far East, pederasty was common and widely practiced, not only in early modern Japan, but also in imperial China, 17th century Siam, ancient Korea, and parts of Indo-China (Adam, 1985; Greenberg, 1988; Gregersen, 1983; Hinsch, 1990). Pederasty was socially sanctioned and practiced in certain areas of Java (Gebhard, 1985), Sumatra (Money & Ehrhardt, 1972), Melanesia (Adam, 1985), Polynesia (Greenberg, 1988), and in various Native American societies in the New World (Greenberg, 1988; Herdt, 1987; Williams, 1992).

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The Melanesian model occurred in various societies throughout Melanesia, Australia, and Amazonia (Adam, 1985; Herdt, 1987). The essential features of the Melanesian form are that sexual relations occur between prepubescent boys from about 7 to 13 and adolescent boys or young men, and these relations are socially sanctioned generally because they are considered essential to "growing" the boys, providing them with the semen they lack (Herdt, 1987). Semen is transmitted orally, anally, or through body smearing, depending on the society, and is believed to mature the boys physically and is often believed to transmit hunting or warrior prowess to them as well (Herdt, 1987, 1991b). Keesing (1982) and Herdt (1987) noted that practices remarkably similar to those observed in Melanesia occurred among certain Native American tribes in Amazonia. Williams (1992) recounted similar age-structured relations among the ancient Mayans, in which institutionalized marriages occurred between prepubescent boys and adolescent males.

Transgenderal Homosexuality

Numerous societies have also sanctioned and institutionalized sexual relations between masculine and cross-gendered males (Greenberg, 1988; Herdt, 1991a; Williams, 1992). Many Native American societies had berdaches (i.e., cross-gendered males) and held them in high esteem for their spiritual and artistic contributions, for mediating between men and women, and for being a valuable resource for helping and educating older children and adolescents (Herdt, 1991a; Williams, 1992). Berdache tendencies were considered to emerge very early in a boy's life, and a boy became a berdache typically at or before puberty. Berdaches were typically, but not always, involved in passive sex with men with a masculine gender role; berdaches did not, however, have sex with other berdaches. They often began their homosexual relations with older boys and men before puberty (Williams, 1996). Outside the New World, transgenderal homosexuality has been documented among the reindeer-herding peoples of Siberia, related peoples of the Bering Sea area of Alaska (e.g., Aleuts, Kodiak Islanders), various Polynesian societies (e.g., old Hawaii, Marquesas Islands, Samoa, Tahiti), Hindu India, various societies in Africa (e.g., Lango, Zanzibar, Zulus), and the Omanis in the Middle East (Carrier, 1980; Williams, 1992). In these societies, males also tended to begin their cross-gendered status and same-sex behavior at a young age: between 10 and 15 years old among the Kodiak Islanders, at 12 or 13 years old among the Omanis, and before puberty among the Polynesians (Wikan, 1982; Williams, 1992, 1996).

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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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