Sexual Life of Primitive People

A comparative survey of sexual customs among preliterate and non-industrial societies examines attitudes toward nudity and modesty, courtship practices, and marital forms including prevalent monogamy, occasional polygyny, and rare polyandry. It outlines rites of puberty, marriage ceremonies, birth practices, instances of feticide, and variations in knowledge about human generation. The work also treats bodily modification and genital mutilation, changes in sexuality with age, and norms governing premarital freedom and conjugal fidelity. Ethnographic examples from different climates and cultural contacts show how environment, social status, and external influence shape clothing, taboos, and reproductive behavior.