The Sociocultural Context

Our values, experiences, families, peers, media, school, religion, law, and government all influence sexuality, gender roles, and sexual behaviors. Society determines what sexual information and behaviors are legally permitted or considered appropriate on the basis of:

• Tradition, customs, religion, values, and beliefs
• The history and experience of the culture
• Economic and political conditions

Norms and values

Every culture has norms related to sex and sexuality. These norms are reflected in gender roles, relationships, marriage, partnerships, friendships, and family. Societal norms often determine sexual practices, marriage customs, punishment for unapproved sexual behaviors, and attitudes toward prostitution, homosexuality, contraception, sexual taboos, and sexuality education.

All societies have values that guide private and public behavior. These values are formal—that is, defined by religions, governments, and other official entities shaping a society’s laws. However, informal values—those reflecting a person’s day-to-day behavior—may not be consistent with the culture’s formal values.

Taboo behaviors
For example, while some societies may have strict taboos on homosexual behavior and may deny the presence of homosexuality, there is evidence that homosexual identity or orientation exists in nearly all societies and cultures. Under these circumstances, homosexual practices in that society may be suppressed or kept within a private subculture. Equally, while a society may publicly prohibit sexual activity outside of marriage, many people may practice sex with a person who is not their spouse. In some cultures, it may be understood informally that this is common—even acceptable—while in other cultures, norms—and even laws based on these norms—may make these behaviors acceptable for one sex and not the other. For example, in some cultures it is acceptable for men to have multiple sexual partners or sex with a person who is not their spouse, whereas a woman in the same culture who has sexual relations outside of marriage may be stigmatized, punished, or socially ostracized—even if the woman has been raped.

Many other types of sexual taboos exist—some of these are nearly universal, while others are more rare. For example, many cultures have laws or taboos regarding sex or marriage with close family members (such as fathers with daughters or mothers with sons), but cultures vary in what they consider to be “too close” a relation (for example, some cultures allow first cousins to marry, while others do not). Many cultures have taboos regarding sex during menstruation, pregnancy, or lactation, while others do not.

Religious norms and values
Religion shapes sexual values with “sacred” law that articulates a range of acceptable sexual behaviors and practices (whom an individual can marry, the types of sexual expression allowed, the use of contraception, etc.). In many countries, “sacred” laws continue to have a powerful impact on current secular law. For example, there are current laws in some countries against oral and anal sex—practices that were first outlawed in those countries by religious law in the Middle Ages.

Economics, laws, and politics
Economics shape sexual values and become part of a culture’s tradition. Although some laws are designed to protect people against sexual abuse (e.g., rape, pedophilia, incest), some laws also regulate sexual conduct between consenting adults and may favor one gender or sexual orientation over another.

In some countries (e.g., Belarus, Cyprus, Romania), a homosexual or bisexual orientation is outlawed and discrimination is permitted. But laws can protect sexual practices as well. In some countries (e.g., Denmark, Holland, Sweden, and Ukraine), the legal rights of people with these sexual orientations are protected.

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