Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective - Ipce
Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective - Ipce
Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective - Ipce
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older in age <strong>and</strong> more experienced than the learner. Most commonly these<br />
encounters are single encounters rather than continuing relations between<br />
a preadolescent <strong>and</strong> an older person. Kinsey (1948, p. 173) found<br />
that the boy from the lower socio-economic classes has considerable information<br />
<strong>and</strong> “help” on sex matters from older boys, or from adult<br />
males, <strong>and</strong> in many cases his first heterosexual contacts are with older<br />
girls who already have had experience.<br />
Rainwater (1970), writing about preadolescents in the Pruitt-Igo<br />
area of St. Louis--black families in a federal slum--indicates that interest<br />
in the grown-up world is greatly heightened in the preadolescent<br />
period. These preadolescents perhaps observe more adolescent<br />
sexual activity than adult sexual activity because adolescent sexual<br />
activity often takes place outside, “in hallways, stairwells, galleries,<br />
laundry rooms, <strong>and</strong> on the project grounds.” Adults in Pruitt-Igo<br />
think of preadolescence as a period of intense imitation of adults, unlike<br />
middle-class adults who are more likely to think of their children<br />
as innocent of such knowledge <strong>and</strong> activity.<br />
<strong>Child</strong>ren are often present during conversations about sexual behavior,<br />
a favorite topic of conversation among both adolescents <strong>and</strong><br />
adults. They learn the words, concepts, implications, <strong>and</strong> meaning of<br />
sexual terms <strong>and</strong> can appear to be remarkably sophisticated even though<br />
they have not had exposure to sexual behavior directly. One of the ways<br />
their sexual knowledge develops is through learning to “joan,” that is,<br />
to master traditional stories or “toasts” of black folklore. Actual observation<br />
of sexual activity makes it possible for many preadolescents<br />
to tell stories about such events.<br />
By preadolescence children of Pruitt-Igo not only know “how to do<br />
it” but they also know that sexual activity is regarded as desirable.<br />
According to Rainwater, they move early <strong>and</strong> easily from listening to<br />
sex conversation <strong>and</strong> from passive observation to active participation.<br />
Not that they move directly to sexual intercourse; their relationships<br />
are primarily social <strong>and</strong> are modeled after the “going steady” pattern<br />
of youth. Play activity often eventuates in playing at sexual intercourse<br />
which may or may not involve actual penetration.<br />
The girls are ambivalent about playing sex with a boy; however,<br />
“they are committed anticipatorily to the roles as sexual partners as<br />
part of their developing conception of themselves as women.” (Rainwater,<br />
1970, p. 280).<br />
Involvement of preadolescents with persons of other age categories<br />
can take a variety of forms. The following cases involve homosexual encounters,<br />
looking at sex pictures <strong>and</strong> exposing, masturbating, dating,<br />
fondling, fellating, <strong>and</strong> engaging in intercourse <strong>and</strong> sodomy. Perhaps<br />
the most common contact of preadolescents, especially among the middleclass,<br />
with those of other ages involves “sex education,” that is, verbal<br />
sex instruction.<br />
Exposure<br />
My first acquaintance with sex was in second <strong>and</strong><br />
third grade, when I began to talk with older<br />
boys <strong>and</strong> girls because of my early maturation.<br />
The older children told me that girls had a hole<br />
between their legs, called a ‘cunt.’ They told<br />
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