Basic Research on, Sexuality in Social Anthropology--A Theoretical Study of Fieldwork, Description, and Comparison

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The objective of the proposed project was to explore the probable theories and methods of sexuality research in social and cultural anthropology. With this view we examined the following issues. 1.The nature of relationships between sexual behavior and sexual representations on the one hand and the total socio-cultural system of the society in question. 2.Theoretical issues concerning meanings, possibility, and limitations of sexuality research in anthropology. 3.Re-analysis and re-interpretation of the data that have been collected by each investigator of the project.We invited primatologists and female anthropologists to our meetings, which contributed greatly to academically productive, lively discussions. In summary, the following were what we have found out in the project.1.The past anthropological studies have paid disproportionate attention to sexually active people and have taken a cursory view of sexual behavior of juveniles and elderly people. It is difficult to discover the kind of relationships existing between sexuality and social organization or cultural values unless we investigate into sexual matters in connection with the whole life cycle of the society.2.Sexual behavior is closely related to gender relationships in the society. This is why the marital sexual behavior quite often influences the type of family planning method chosen by the husband and wife.3.There are societies where sexuality research is relatively easy for anthropologists while other societies present a variety of obstacles to such anthropologists. This difference derives from the sexual ideology and gender relationships that are closely united with the social and religious systems of the society.