Premarital Sex:   Malinowski's Tribes 1929

Prenuptial Intercourse In the majority of tribes studied by early anthropologists unmarried boys and girls were free to mate in temporary unions, subject to barriers of incest and exogamy and such social regulations as prevail in their community. Fondling and sex play was permitted amongst children. Intercourse and marriage closely followed the girl's first menstruation. Malinowski (1929, 1962) began his treatise Sex, Culture and Myth with a short survey of how different cultures treat premarital sexual relationships. What follows is a partial list of different cultures that followed different customs regarding pre-marital sexual union before the 1920's. Prenuptial mating freely indulged, partners not meant to marry. Bhiuya Guana Guaycuru Kumbi Masai Prenuptial mating freely indulged as a method of trial and error courtship starting in childhood. Akamba Igorot Munshi Trobriand Islanders Mixed houses for bachelors and girls, sexual experimentation expected Bontoc Igorot Masai Muria Nandi Trobriand Islanders Free sexual union desired and child expected before marriage can take place. Aimara Bambata Bismarck Archipelago Bontoc Igorot Guarayos Hill Dyak Iruleas Lengua Moi Pueblo Indians Sea Dyak Wolofs Prenuptial mating freely indulged but severe punishment of illegitimate birth Akikuyu Aleut Bakoki Banyankole Basoga Beni Amer Cherokees Creeks Guana Guaycuru Lisu Masai Mekeo Nandi Nias Islanders North Soloman Islanders Tribes of Guyana Wapore Free premarital unions but premarital offspring killed unless adopted by married couple Aristocratic fraternities of Polynesia Chastity of the unmarried is regarded as a virtue, especially in girls, and any lapse from it is severely censured or punished. Andamanese Bushmen Fuegans Kubu Senoi Veddas Testing of bride by publicly exhibiting tokens of defloration Algeria Brahui Chichimec Chuwash Egypt Koryaks Kulngo Mandingo Morocco Noble families of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji Ruanda Tribes of Southern Celebes Swahili Yakuts Yoruba Chastity physically enforced with practices such as infibulation N.E. African, Hamitic and Semitic peoples Reports from Burma, Thailand and Java Sources Lubbock, Sir John. 1870. The Origin of Civilisation and the Primitive Condition of Man. New York: D. Appleton and Co. Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1929. Marriage. In: Encyclopedia Brittanica Vol. XIV, pp. 940-950. Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1962. Sex, culture and myth. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.

Index

Primates	Victorian England	Azande-Congo	Hill Maria-India	Nuba-Sudan
Nuba-Otoro	Nuba-Koalib	Marquesas Islanders	Child Marriage: India	Irish Village