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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There was a small amount of dancing <strong>and</strong> a large<br />
amount of games. This consisted of embarrassing<br />
things for me (a boy). They were Wink ’um, passing<br />
lifesavers with tooth-picks, etc.<br />
There was one girl in particular who was mature<br />
physically in the fifth grade <strong>and</strong> who had ideas<br />
of dating before the rest of us did. She was a<br />
very strong leader <strong>and</strong> encouraged the rest of us<br />
in dating. She seemed to know all the facts of<br />
life <strong>and</strong> she took advantage of our curiosity at<br />
this age <strong>and</strong> told us all she knew.<br />
First Paired Dating<br />
First paired dating during preadolescence involves walking girls<br />
home from the show, going to shows together under chaperonage, sitting<br />
together on the school bus, <strong>and</strong> engaging together in sports activities<br />
<strong>and</strong> peer group parties. The boy is not always the aggressor in initiating<br />
first dates. Sometimes it is the girl; sometimes it is the mother.<br />
It is quite evident when we look at dating among preadolescents that<br />
dating in the United States serves other functions than that of courtship<br />
<strong>and</strong> mate selection. The following cases, all dealing with first<br />
dates, are arranged according to the age of the person at the time of<br />
the first date, beginning with fourth graders.<br />
Relations with girls consisted of walking with<br />
them from school to their house.... The bravest<br />
thing a fellow could do was to find out if the<br />
girl you were interested in was going to the<br />
show <strong>and</strong> then appear at the same show <strong>and</strong> sit<br />
next to her. After the show you could walk her<br />
home if it was not too far out of your way.<br />
I (a girl) began dating in the fourth grade.<br />
Every Friday night Bill <strong>and</strong> I would go to the<br />
show <strong>and</strong> home. His mother chauffeured, <strong>and</strong> we<br />
would hold h<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> kiss good-night.<br />
I began dating in the fifth grade. We met at the<br />
theater quite often.... The situation that made<br />
our relationship unique was the fact that before<br />
we knew each other I was the one that approached<br />
him.... I asked him to go steady with me <strong>and</strong> the<br />
next day he came to school with his mother’s<br />
diamond ring. A friend of mine told the teacher<br />
<strong>and</strong> the teacher came over to me during class <strong>and</strong><br />
asked for it back.<br />
My date was a short, plump, <strong>and</strong> far-from-goodlooking<br />
little boy in the sixth grade. I can<br />
remember bragging to my friends that I was so<br />
lucky to be going out with a sixth grader. My<br />
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