Sexuality In Latino Cultures

Throughout much of our history, the social aspect of culture has always been an inescapable fact of our own human experience. While cultures may hold differences as great as the physical differences between a whale shark and the krill it devours, there are always some aspects that are fundamentally the same. Specifically, many cultures often share two fundamental beliefs that relate to their perceived perspectives of their own male and female youths. That they should fear the sexuality of their young women and the fear of violence of their young men. And the United States is no different in its perception of the sexuality of Latinas and the possible violence of young men of color.
In regards to the broad concept of human sexuality, many societies …show more content…
Mothers, often being the most visible parental influence in both traditional and single parent Latino households, are viewed as the most powerful figure that holds tremendous sway of their own children. If their daughters are perceived by their families and community as following the traits of conservativism and chastity, the mothers are applauded for performing the role of good mothers. But if their daughters are discovered to be sexually active by their respective families and communities, these mothers are instead viewed as nothing but failures. Thus, in their preservation of both theirs’ and theirs’ daughters honor, seek to find evidence of any sexual conduct. If evidence is uncovered, many mothers opt to physically confront their daughters about the supposed conduct. When their daughters confirm their suspicions, many mothers opt to punish their daughters, often by isolating them for their social life to prevent further sexual activity. One such Latina, was only allowed to leave her home only during school and community activities on the condition that she would be escorted by her mother (Garcia, pg. 148). However, the discovery of their daughters being sexually active has at times lead to some positive influence in the relationship between mothers and daughters. Despite believing in the sexual victimization of …show more content…
For some, the fear of their family to even learn that they have questions about sexuality instantly serves a deterrent. With the intimate sphere of their family a non-option, many Latina girls are forced to learn about their sexuality from within the education system. Unfortunately, acquiring sexual education at school is often a coin toss. For some girls, they are considered extremely fortunate to have taken a comprehensive sex education that covers the pregnancy, contraction, Stds, HIV, and the topic of abortion (Garcia, pg. 59). For other Latina girls, they often receive abstinence only education, a curriculum that only teaches about the dangers of premarital sex. Even when these girls do obtain a comprehensive sex education class, they are often presented with speakers and teachers that only seek to reinforce the good girl/ bad girl dichotomy often by shaming girls with rudimentary knowledge of sex. In fact, rather than emphasizing safe sex, many educators instead emphasized that the girls need to be mindful of their respectability and behave like “good girls” or “young ladies” (Garcia, pg. 61). Thus, many Latina are often forced to empower their own sexuality on their own or through the help of their