Mini-Review
Teenage Sexuality in Different Cultures

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Introduction

This paper has been compiled in order to highlight historical and contemporary issues surrounding adolescent sexuality in the context of cultural heritage with the aim of improving understanding and awareness among clinicians caring for young adults.

The definition of sexuality includes preparedness for engaging and involvement in sexual activity.1 Different societies handle adolescent sexuality in differing ways, with underlying biological and cultural aspects which produce and shape sexual desires interacting to influence adolescents.2 The typical components that contribute to the development of adolescent sexuality have been defined as consisting of biological, psychological and social/cultural.3 Sexuality is inevitably closely linked to culture and religion, within which there are vast contrasts and constant evolution. For instance just as the meaning and experience of childhood differs among Sub-Saharan Africa’s 5000 or so tribes, so have traditional attitudes to sex and sexuality.

The underlying determinants behind attitudes to sexuality and the adolescent are essentially ethical, moral, and practical. Education is at the forefront of the consideration of these determinants.

Understanding different cultures and appreciating the difference is crucial to this exercise. A multicultural audience is likely to provoke real challenges to the exploration of teenage sexuality. It is vitally important to try to be completely open to other people’s points of view: failure to do so will inevitably introduce bias, suspicion, and hostility. Misconceptions can easily arise as a consequence of ignorance. An Indian child bride may be seen to be a tradition to be upheld by some and completely anachronistic by others. Using an alternative analogy, dressing a child as a bride to receive her first Holy Communion in the Roman Catholic Church can similarly be seen as being both traditional and anachronistic.

Section snippets

Education

Teenage sexuality is guided by cultural experience, which at a basic level includes seeing animal behavior as well as sharing rooms or beds with parents and other family members. Education, whether formal or informal, must be the most influential factor in guiding the development of sexuality. Allied to education is the extent to which teenage sex is condoned within a particular culture. Countries with more liberal attitudes to sex have lower teenage birth rates,4 reflecting the impact of

Age of Consent

Whether legislation relating to sexual relations actually influences adolescent sexual behavior is a moot point. Historically, shorter life expectancies meant that the age of consent for sexual relations tended to be low for pragmatic reasons. Behavior is linked with overall circumstances: for instance, the lower the expected survival following puberty, the sooner the pressure to start to mate and reproduce. This basic tenet is repeated within the animal kingdom.

Against this background the age

Sex and Marriage

In many cultures, failure to marry at a young age has been and is still seen as a disaster to the individual and the family. Based on a historical premise that marriage equates to sexual activity, it is the expression of sexual maturity and the formality of marriage that traditionally has meant that marriage has not only provided a barrier to premarital sex but has also protected young girls from sex before reaching puberty. Other crucial ramifications of the formality of marriage included

Teenage Sexual Behavior

Most research into the development of sexuality in adolescents concerns itself with risk avoidance and the reduction of negative outcomes—the danger of limiting research to these aspects of teen sexuality has already been explored above in the context of education. Ethnic attitudes to sexuality in the United States reveal that Asians tended to report more conservative sexual attitudes than Hispanic or Euro-American peers.14 The study showed that assimilation of the cultural traits of another

Adolescent Sexuality and Other Behaviors

Adolescence is a time of catharsis, with puberty typified by a period of physical and emotional disruption. Tensions build up in the absence of an outlet and violence has been described as being a feature of teenage sexuality (e.g., dating violence17). The most dramatic manifestation of teenage violence is death, as exemplified by Shakespeare’s tragedy of Romeo and Juliet who were depicted as being 13–14 years old at the time of their doomed relationship. Untimely death is more prevalent in

Social Networking and Media Effects

Whereas traditionally attitudes to sex and sexuality have been guided by cultural norms peculiar to different societies, the explosion in electronic access to social networking is rapidly removing existing barriers between different cultures. The internet and cell phone technology has become easily accessible to young people and represents both risks and benefits. Negative effects include addiction, harassment, and predatory sexual solicitation, although there are also positive effects such as

Summary

Significant cultural identities and differences surrounding puberty, adolescence, and sexuality remain although this appears to be eroding rapidly. Key areas that affect the health and wellbeing of children and young adults continue to exert adverse influences. It behoves clinician advocates of pediatric and adolescent gynecology to try to protect those we aim to help by being aware of cultural influences on teenage sexuality, resultant behavior patterns, and the need for ongoing education and

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  • Cited by (5)

    • Professionals’ perceptions of electronic and online sexual behaviors of youth in their community

      2020, Children and Youth Services Review
      Citation Excerpt :

      As such, we fall victim to our own criticism, and our own results and interpretations may shift if more up-to-date information was collected. An important point to consider in the discussion of electronic and online sexual behaviors is the fact that sexual behavior is often value-laden, and these values may vary country to country, neighborhood to neighborhood, family to family, or even youth to youth (e.g., Wood, 2012). Even the empirical literature varies widely in its perception of electronic and online sexual behaviors (see Finkelhor, 2014 for discussion).

    The author indicates no conflicts of interest.

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