Skip to main content
University of California Press

Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia

by Gilbert H. Herdt (Editor)
Paperback eBook
Price: $36.95 / £31.00
Publication Date: Jan 1993
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 476
ISBN: 9780520080966
Trim Size: 6.14 x 9.21
Illustrations: 4 maps
Series:
Request an Exam or Desk Copy(opens in new window)RightsLink(opens in new window)
Recommend to your Library (PDF)(opens in new window)Rights and Permissions

About the Book

This book contains the work of seven leading anthropologists on the subject of ritualized homosexuality, and it marks the first time that anthropologists have systematically studied cross-cultural variations in homosexual behavior in a non-Western culture area. The book as a whole indicates that contemporary theories of sex and gender development need revision in light of the Melanesian findings.


This book contains the work of seven leading anthropologists on the subject of ritualized homosexuality, and it marks the first time that anthropologists have systematically studied cross-cultural variations in homosexual behavior in a non-Western culture

About the Author

Gilbert H. Herdt is Professor of Human Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Paperback Edition 

Editor's Preface 
1 Gilbert H. Herdt 
  Ritualized Homosexual Behavior in the Male Cults of Melanesia, 1862-1983: An Introduction
2 Michael R. Allen 
  Homosexuality, Male Power, and Political Organization in North Vanuatu: A Comparative Analysis
3 J. Van Baal 
  The Dialectics of Sex in Marind-anim Culture
4 Gilbert H. Herdt 
  Semen Transactions in Sambia Culture
5 Kenneth E. Read 
  The Nama Cult Recalled
6 Eric Schwimmer 
  Male Couples in New Guinea
7 Laurent Serpenti 
  The Ritual Meaning of Homosexuality and Pedophilia among the Kimam-Papuans of South Irian Jaya
8 Arve S0rum 
  Growth and Decay: Bedamini Notions of Sexuality
9 Shirley Lindenbaum 
  Variations on a Sociosexual Theme in Melanesia
  
Bibliography 
Contributors 
Index 
Maps
1 New Guinea and adjacent islands
2 Vanuatu (New Hebrides)
3 Southwest New Guinea (lrian Jaya)
Map of Melanesia
frontispiece

Awards

  • Alfred C. Kinsey Scholarly Writing Award 1986, North American Man/Boy Love Association