Today on #sinrecato, we’ll talk about some rather curious sexual customs, some strange, and some others incredibly interesting:
The Favorite Aunt: It turns out that in the Banyankole tribe in Uganda, according to tradition, when a girl is between 8 and 9 years old, it’s her aunt’s duty to prepare her for family life.
Since, for them, a woman’s attractiveness is based on her weight, starting at that age, the girl undergoes a “fattening” process to attract her future husband.
Virginity is also considered a very important aspect for a future wife in this culture; therefore, girls are taught that they must NOT have premarital sex.
When the time comes for the wedding, several ceremonies are held, one of which is the Kuhingira, where family and friends bring edible gifts such as cows and other food to stock their new home.
At the bride’s home, a celebration is held where her father must sacrifice a bull, meanwhile, at the groom’s home, a celebration to consummate the marriage is held. All in all, someone is sacrificed at each house.
But here’s the thing, during a final ceremony, the bride’s aunt tests the groom’s sexual prowess and rates him according to APA style.
In other words, the aunt not only tests her nephew-in-law but must also learn the groom’s sexual techniques, his kinks, and his favorite styles, so she can then teach them to her niece, and only then does she give her blessing for her niece to finally be with her husband.
Devoted Husband: In Sudan, the Dinka marriage tradition ensures that wives are treated with devotion, however, since nothing’s for free, a dowry ranging from 100 to 500 cows must be paid.
After they get married, for four years, the sister-in-law (the husband’s sister) is responsible for all the household chores. This period is known as Anyuuc (generous welcome), and it’s a time for the wife to rest, relax, and learn the values of her husband’s heritage. Can you imagine how happy the sister-in-law must feel?
Once these four years have passed, the husband organizes a celebration called Thaat (cooking festival), where they sacrifice three cows and five goats so that the wife can demonstrate her culinary skills, much to her own dismay, but to her sister-in-law’s delight.
The most interesting thing is that, if the husband has behaved badly during that period, the wife can leave and is not required to return the dowry.
Gambia, a “sexy” tourist destination: Gambia has become a fairly popular destination for sex tourism. One of the most popular areas is the Senegambia Strip, the coastal region around Kololi.
Dates are often arranged through local bumsters, referring to young men who offer to have sex with older women, mostly Europeans, in exchange for money.
The Gambian government’s Tourism Board acknowledges that the situation has gotten out of control, so it has devised plans to improve the country’s image and promote ecotourism, capitalizing on its landscapes and national flora and fauna instead of sex tourism, which has now become a source of income for young Gambians.
Among women: In Botswana, Namibia, and Sudan, it’s very common for women to engage in sexual activities with one another before having sexual experiences with men. Furthermore, it’s customary for Kung women in the Kalahari Desert, including married women, to have male lovers to continue gaining experience.
In the Sudanese desert, among the Nuer and Dinka communities, marriage between women is legal. In fact, if a woman has enough money for dowries, she may have multiple wives.
Easygoing Tahitians: When Tahitian men want to have sex but there are no women available, they turn to a figure that has recently become widely accepted in his culture: the māhū. The concept refers to a third gender, in which a person is born male but embraces their feminine energy. Māhū act and speak like women, but biologically, they aren’t classified as such.
Tahitians in general, and heterosexual men, view them as a stopgap solution, and for this reason, it’s common for the Sakalava people of Madagascar to mock those who claim to be 100% heterosexual. Who would’ve thought? We make things more complicated for ourselves than they do.
Learning about the sexual customs of other cultures will always be fascinating and entertaining, but it’s important to be respectful of what’s different as long as no one is being harmed.
If any of these curious customs caught your attention, get ready for the next part that promises to be just as #sinrecato, because remember: sex isn’t bad, what’s bad is not having sex.
Traducción del español: Catalina Oviedo Brugés
