Factors in the Cross-Cultural Patterning of Male Homosexuality: A Reappraisal of the Literature

Abstract

Cross-cultural studies of homosexuality have focused either on homosexual behavior or on a specific characteristic such as transvestism that has been associated with homosexuality in some societies. It is argued that future research must distinguish between various types of statuses with which homosexual behavior can be associated. The existing cross-cultural studies of homosexuality are reevaluated, dividing societies in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS) into three groups, (a) those with berdachelike or intragenerational homosexual statuses, (b) those with male mentor-ships or intergenerational homosexual statuses, and (c) all other societies in the SCCS. It is demonstrated that intragenerational and intergenerational homosexuality are cross-culturally valid distinctions and that the past failure to distinguish between the two forms has been a serious flaw in previous research. Finally, the social characteristics that differentiate these two types of homosexuality are summarized, and it is suggested that these contrasts are related to socioeconomic factors that may be seen as integrating homosexual behavior into the broader matrix of each society's gender roles.