Cultural Differences in Sex and Media

My research project addresses the association of the increasing level of sexual content in East African media with youths’ sexual attitudes and behavior. Most previous research on that has taken place in Western nations, so for the past three weeks our research team has been working to contextualize our material to the Ugandan context. Here are a few examples of differences we’re adjusting for:

Parents and “the talk” 

Researchers sometimes delve into how messages on the media about sex differ from other sources of “sexual socialization” in youths’ lives like parents, schools, houses of worship. In the U.S. it’s the parents’ job to give “the talk” to their kids, and it strains the imagination to think of explaining sex to your nieces or nephews. In many Ugandan societies, though, the opposite it true. Traditionally parents didn’t explain sex to their children. That was the job of same-sex aunts and uncles. 

Types of media used among youth

American youths watch huge amounts of TV, so studies in the U.S. about the effects of sexual content in entertainment media have historically centered around TV.  Parents also worry about their children running into pornography on the Internet, or sending nude or semi-nude photos out over Instagram or Twitter. In contrast, only 40% of Ugandans have ever watched TV. 11% of Ugandans have ever used the Internet. Ugandan youth may, however, go to “bibandas” (film halls) which are tiny little businesses, just shacks really, where you can pay a few shillings to come in and watch videos of TV shows and movies ranging in subject from sports events to sitcoms to pornography.  This is what parents worry about. (These places are also called Play Stations in some areas, which confused me mightily for about a week!)

Sex-related behaviors

“Friends with benefits” —the practice, most often on college campuses, of having sex with a friend without any expectation of romance—has been a phenomenon in the U.S. for some years now. No use asking about that here, though; it’s not a familiar idea. A different type of arrangement for obtaining sex without expectation of romance is common in Uganda: sugar daddies (and, occasionally, sugar mommies).  

All that is to say I’m reminded of what I’ve learned in the past: when you do cross-cultural research you can usually get answers to your questions. The problem is that you may be asking entirely the wrong questions.