CULTURE UNDERSTANDING OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY

Talking about sex and sexuality are the different case. People tend sex is a biology activity or used to mention a gender label. However, sexuality has more complex meaning, relates with how to express the feeling to the others through actions, such as touch, kiss, hug, coitus or the softer action like body language, dress code, and conversation performance.

Shortly, every society plays the strong role to shape sexual value and action, also in forming or hampering the development and expression of member sexual. For example, in the east country, especially Indonesia, conducts intercourse before married is a sin, but in west country, that is a common habit.

In the west culture, sexuality is a biological necessity that is not only restricted on normative dogma. Yet, it is also to consider the empirical experience that grows in the social interaction. As Yos’s story, Indonesian member who works in Amsterdam, that sex do not have to be conducted in marriage, like some stories of his colleagues in Amsterdam that have a daughter :

First colleague : I will be a grandmother. My daughter is 20 years old in pregnant condition. According to the plan, she doesn’t want to get married.

Second colleague : I was surprise this morning. Apparently, my daughter whose 16 years old had slept with her boyfriend, last night without informed me before.

Third colleague : my daughter whose 18 years old is still virgin and she never allows her boyfriend to come to our home (http://www.bebekrewel.com/holland-safe-koki).

Base on those, we can assume that the meaning of sexuality engages all sorts of dimension that link each other to form a comprehensive units. First, biology dimension, it is a dimension that relates with anatomy and functional of reproduction organ, included how to take care of the healthy and use it optimally. Second sociocultural dimension. It is a dimension seeing how sexuality appears in relation among the people, how someone adapts with role demand in the social environment, and how to socialize the sexuality function and role in the human life (Iwan Purnawan, S.Kep, Ns, 2006 : 2-4).

In the west culture, when children have been mature enough, they will be released by their parents to be independent. The ending of parents’ responsibility is equal with a new form of individual responsibility that has experienced a degradation period. Children are given a freedom to choose their life style. The process of true self-identity whether in production chema or reproduction is automatically handled by themselves. Start from determining he school, house, job until family are the personal decision that are done consciously. So, the cultural segregation happens when the freedom is mentioned as a part of life style that is focused on some aspects of independence, self confidence, relation efficiency and relation effectivity. Thus, in their sexual activity. The example is the tradition of the cultural circumcision. Even though, it still becomes a controversy in USA, but almost 80%, the neonates of men are circumcised by the hygienic reason or religious symbol and specific ethnic identity. It is also to women, in the some countries, circumcision for women is a physic symbol of their maturity, the social control symbol of their sexual happiness and reproduction. Whereas, the adolescents’ life in UK are independent, lack of family and religious influence, free to choose anything, liberal and moderate enough.

Based on the west culture reality, the focuses of sex are especially on sex education and safe sex. The ethic dimension that is used is a personal responsibility for a comfort, safety, and healthy. The norm restriction of sexual problem almost does not exist. Even though, based on the law, sex is allowed to be done in 18 years old, but not in the fact. According to the survey, adolescents have conducted the sex trial between 14 until 16 years old. So, most of them have done once, even the girl, that she can receive some contraception pills from doctor.

Sexuality also refers to the interactive design that is managed by sets of cultural equipments. It means that someone can not understand the sexual shape that is chosen suddenly, yet it internalizes from the socialization tie which is done before. A child tend to conduct everything that is ever thought by parents. The knowledge will be continued to the next generation and so on. In this context , Berger calls it as a system referred to the arrangement as a requirement in social life. Human is an instrument of objective social reality creation that is through externalization process as it influences to the internalization process. Externalization then expands the social rule institutionalization so that the structure is the continuous process. , not as an ending that has been complete. The other way, objective reality that is shaped by externalization will form the society again. As third element, it is internalization or individual socialization into objective social world. These three elements, such as internalization, externalization and objectification move each other, dialectically (Poloma, 2004: 302-303).

This is related with third dimension, , psychology dimension, sexuality consists of action that is learned since the beginning through the monitoring of parents’ behavior. Therefore, parents have significant influence for the children sexuality. It is often that the individual point of view as sexual human relates with the parents performance of their body within its action.

It is also linked with last dimension, ethic and religion dimension, sexuality engages with ethic and religion realization standard. If the created sexuality decision passes beyond the individual ethic border, it will emerge the internal conflicts, such as, feeling guilty, sinful, etc. The behavior spectrum about sexuality has distance, start from traditional perception (sex only in marriage) until the behavior that allows according to the person who chooses it.

In other word, sexuality is influenced by cultural norm and rule that determine whether the action can be accepted or not based on the original culture. So, globally, the various cultures cause the numerous variabilities in the sexuality norm that appear the big value and conviction spectrum. For example, the action that is permitted during in date, something that is considered to be pungent, sexuality action type, the rules that forbid sexual action or the norms that can determine someone whether it is possible to be married or not.

In the view of east culture, sex is a representation of central internal dimension. As in Java’s culture, sex is not only biological interaction but also a spiritual purpose. So, the summit of the dogma and sex interpretation are to know the humanity history and perfectible human life. Sex, lastly, refers to internal process in finding the meaning of long road to become a human until carry the self as a human (Suwardi Endraswara, 2006: 255). Firstly, there is a realization of feeling which a human in the men’s and women’s feeling. The feeling is so magnificent that every life road must be pure. The holy journey which is also pure causes us to have the ability to pass various prestige of life.

Therefore, for east culture, most of them admit that sexuality has a sacred value that must be proctected. The sexual activity is often interpreted as a meeting between different sex that are male and female to accept the reproduction process biologically. It will be an agreement, if it is done through marriage institution. So, the interpretation of sexuality tends to be embedded with term like ”taboo” that means it is not a good action to be said or to be expressed clearly. As Yos’ utterance below :

My parent is also understand, if I am a conventional person type. I can’t kiss my wife exaggeratedly that can be shown to many people. I will feel uncomfortable and uneasy when we take a bath together. To do sunbath is just a several period (http://www.bebekrewel.com, opcit)

Base on those analysis es, actually, west culture and east culture have the same perception that sexual is an important part of human civilization. It means, they will take care the sexual activity to be avoided from the risks. However, both of them also have the different behavior and process to interpret the plus values of sexual that is followed by the method of risk preventative.

West culture focuses on liberalism that sexual is an expression form even a subjective right that is chosen consciously. So, they prefer sex education and safe sex as efforts to press the risks, such as, socialization of contraception use to avoid the sexual infectious disease or to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

Whereas, in east culture, people claim the sexual on the sacred value as an effort to protect the sexual actors from the risks. They internalize the presses of culture to drive someone to do not assume that sexual is a common habit. Since, if sexual is done with everyone or in every time, it will appear a jealously, feeling guilty, feeling sinful, unclear status even disease. So, there are special qualifications to be followed, such as, the norms of right sexual expression, term of taboo or understanding of marriage to reach sexual legacy as the top feeling that is pure and meaningful.