Reference no: EM132299553

Article: The Etoro click this icon to hear the preceding term pronounced and some other societies of the Trans-Fly River region in southern New Guinea provide an extreme example of the social acceptance of male homosexuality. Apparently, all Etoro men engage in homosexual acts and most also marry and engage in heterosexual acts with their wives. However, heterosexual intercourse is prohibited for up to 260 days of the year and is forbidden in or near their houses and vegetable gardens. In contrast, homosexual relations are permitted at any time. map of the Trans-Fly Region of New Guinea photo of Jiwiki warriors in New Guinea Jiwiki men in New Guinea The Etoro believe that homosexual acts make crops flourish and boys strong. Etoro men and women mostly live apart so that social contact between them is generally limited and often hostile. Not surprisingly, their birth rates are low. To compensate for this problem and to avoid depopulation, they allegedly have stolen children from neighboring societies and raised them as their own. There is no clear explanation as to why societies are permissive or restrictive in regards to homosexuality. However, there are two interesting correlations. First, societies that strongly forbid abortion and infanticide are likely to be equally intolerant of homosexuality. Second, societies that have frequent severe food shortages are more likely to allow homosexuality. An implication is that homosexuality may be tolerated and even encouraged when there is severe population pressure. Heterosexual abstinence and other birth control methods would be expected to be common then also. That appears to have been the case with the Plains Indians and some New Guinea societies. NOTE: It is not clear what leads one person to be homosexual and another to be heterosexual or bisexual. Both environmental and social factors have been proposed by psychologists and others engaged in researching this question. In reality, both kinds of factors may be involved to some degree. In addition, an individual may change sexual preference at different phases of his or her life. Anthony Bogaert's recent research at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada indicates that birth order within a family may be an important factor in male homosexuality. He found that the more biological older brothers a man has, the more likely he will be homosexual, and that it does not matter if he is raised with his older brothers. It may be that each succeeding pregnancy with a male child somehow causes a mother's immune system to respond to male fetuses in a way that changes their sex-related brain development. This same correlation between male birth order and homosexuality does not occur if older siblings are half-brothers, stepbrothers, or adopted brothers. (Science News Vol. 170 July 1, 2006) question: After reviewing the article on homosexuality and small snippet on the Etoro of Papau New Guinea, what are your thoughts on their traditions of marriage, family, and sex? I know you are probably shocked to learn about this tribe, which is one of several in their geographic location. Are you ethnocentric? Can you understand their practices from a cultural relativist point of view?