Table Of ContentWomen and Sexuality
Recent Titles in
Women and Society around the World
Women and Violence: Global Lives in Focus
Kathleen Nadeau and Sangita Rayamajhi, Editors
Women and Health: Global Lives in Focus
AnnJanette Alejano-Steele, Editor
Women and the Military: Global Lives in Focus
Ruth Margolies Beitler and Sarah M. Gerstein
Women and Religion: Global Lives in Focus
Susan M. Shaw, Editor
Women and Sexuality
Global Lives in Focus
Kelly Campbell and M. L. Parker, Editors
Women and Society around the World
Copyright © 2023 by ABC-CLIO, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
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permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Campbell, Kelly, editor. | Parker, M. L., editor.
Title: Women and sexuality : global lives in focus / Kelly Campbell and M. L. Parker, editors.
Description: Santa Barbara : ABC-CLIO, 2023. | Series: Women and society
around the world | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022026438 | ISBN 9781440873041 (hardcover) | ISBN
9781440873058 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Women—Sexual behavior.
Classification: LCC HQ29 .C35 2022 | DDC 306.7082—dc23/eng/20220804
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022026438
ISBN: 978-1-4408-7304-1 (print)
978-1-4408-7305-8 (ebook)
27 26 25 24 23 1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available as an eBook.
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Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
Series Foreword vii
Introduction ix
Chronology xxi
ONE North America 1
Kelly Campbell
TWO Latin America and the Caribbean 33
Jessica Gomez
THREE Europe 65
Marissa A. Mosley and Tatjana M. Farley
FOUR North Africa and the Middle East 93
Jessica Gomez
FIVE Sub-Saharan Africa 123
Tiffany Fawn Jones
SIX Central and East Asia 153
Francesca Otero-Vargas and Qiong Wu
SEVEN South Asia and Southeast Asia 187
Kathleen Nadeau and Sangita Rayamajhi
EIGHT Oceania 215
Rashmi Pithavadian, Anita Ogbeide, Angelica Ojinnaka,
Rubab Firdaus, Syeda Zakia Hossain, Tinashe Dune, and
Pranee Liamputtong
vi Contents
Bibliography 249
About the Editors and Contributors 259
Index 263
Series Foreword
Women’s roles in society and the issues they face differ greatly from
those of their male counterparts. In some corners of the world, women
may manage households but are deemed unworthy of an education; in
other areas, women scientists are pioneers in their fields, juggling family
life and their careers. Gender inequality looms in all aspects of life, from
employment to education to opportunities in sports and the military.
What are the challenges, issues, and achievements women around the
world face?
The Women and Society around the World series looks at women’s lives
as they pertain to various issues. The volumes cover topics such as
• Health;
• Violence;
• Religion;
• Sexuality;
• The military;
• Sports;
• Education; and
• Technology, among others.
Each volume begins with an introductory background essay on the vol-
ume’s topic and is followed by a general chronology of significant world
events pertaining to the topic. Eight chapters follow, focusing on the
world’s regions: North America (United States and Canada), Latin Amer-
ica and the Caribbean, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, Sub-
Saharan Africa, Central and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia,
viii Series Foreword
and Oceania. All chapters include a list of further reading resources, and a
selected bibliography at the end of each volume provides students with
additional print and electronic resources for further research needs.
The chapters examine women in each region with broad brushstrokes,
highlighting specific examples of key customs and policies in specific
countries that help to illuminate cultural nuances among countries within
each region. They can be read alone or be reviewed cumulatively to make
cross-cultural comparisons. The volumes are ideal for high school stu-
dents doing projects, undergraduate students writing research papers, and
even general readers interested in learning about women’s lives.
The goal of the Women and Society around the World series is to depict
the roles of women worldwide by exploring the major issues they face and
the accomplishments they have made, especially in terms of bridging the
gap in gender inequality and fighting for basic human rights. While read-
ers will learn about the challenges that half of the world’s population face,
they will also discover the empowering ways women succeed and over-
come social and cultural barriers in their daily lives.
Introduction
Women and Sexuality: Global Lives in Focus examines historical and
contemporary issues pertaining to women’s sexualities around the world.
Each chapter addresses a different geographic region, including North
America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, North Africa and the
Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, Central and East Asia, South and South-
east Asia, and Oceania. The topics covered in each chapter include culture
and attitudes toward sexuality, religion and sexuality, sexual violence,
reproductive health and menstruation, marriage and partnerships, and the
media and sexuality. This format enables readers to consider the experi-
ences of women cross-culturally, evaluating how they are both similar and
different. One construct that has heavily influenced women’s sexuality in
all regions is patriarchy. We begin by defining this and other constructs
that are central to understanding the content in this book. After defining
key terms, we review important theories that help explain and contextual-
ize women’s sexuality. Our hope is that the reader will refer back to these
concepts and theories as they move through the chapters.
DEFINING KEY TERMS
Patriarchy
“Patriarchy” refers to a societal system in which men have more power
than women. Power is defined as the ability to influence people. In patriar-
chal societies, men have more financial resources than women do, and
they occupy a greater number of leadership roles. Nearly every country in
the world is considered patriarchal (Kimmel 2017). It is impossible to dis-
cuss women’s sexualities without addressing patriarchy, because in many
