Political and Sexual Attitudes Concerning Same-Sex Sexual Behavior

Abstract

This research is based upon interviews and questionnaire data from male “homosexuals” (n = 177), “bisexuals” or “bicurious” (n = 166), and “persistent heterosexuals” (n = 528) between 20 and 30 years of age from working and professional social classes in three countries: Brazil, Turkey and Thailand. The main goal is to compare cultural attitudes toward politics and sex, as well as the impact of social class ethos: slum duelers versus college students. In terms of politics, the greatest differences between cultures were found with Thais being less liberal in terms of religious attitudes and more conservative in terms of “marriage being a social duty for everybody.” However, a greater number of Brazilians assume that “getting married and having children” is a personal goal. Brazilians are more family orientated followed by Thais and Turks. Brazilians also appear less clientelistic than Turks and Thais. In terms of sex, Turks and Brazilians are more liberal than Thais. Brazilians are also less gender stratified in terms of gender roles in sexuality. When social class was controlled, the more liberal participants, in terms of religion, amongst the working class, were the less willing to marry and have children. Although in both social classes the more liberal participants disagree that “everybody should get married”, it is more correlated to the working than to the professional class. The prescription for social respect is less demanding on more liberal working class men who also receive more invitations for sex by other men. The more liberal the professional class participants are in terms of religion the less gender stratified they are in terms of sexual roles and the more they are negatively correlated with such statements as “homosexuals are more feminine” and “homosexual are more passive in sex”. Working class participants as a whole are more family and clientelistic orientated, more liberal about sexuality, and are more gender stratified.