Celibacy
Sex is a huge part of American culture. Our media and culture is centered around the sexualization of everything, from cars to burgers. In contrast, research shows that one percent of the U.S population is actually celibate, meaning that quite a number of people are abstaining from marriage and other sexual relations. You might think that one percent might not be a very significant percentage, but compared to the 320 million people currently populating the United States, one percent is actually a little more than 3 million people. We decided to look at celibacy and do a cross cultural comparison within different regions around the world. We looked at nine different cultures in different parts of the world. In Southern Europe, we studied the Basques, in South Eastern Europe, we studied the Greeks, in Southern South America, we studied the Onas, in Eastern South America, we studied the Guarani and the Bahia Brazilians, in Southern Africa, we studied the Zulu, in Western Africa, we studied the Akan, in Southern Asia, we studied the Vietnamese, and lastly we briefly looked at the Monguors in Eastern Asia. In some of these cultures, celibacy seems like a very odd and unusual concept to the people, whereas in other cultures, celibacy is a cultural norm, and is practiced among the people. We will be comparing these cultures in order to determine what characteristics they share that lead to the practice of celibacy, what are the differences in their practices, and we will also compare them to cultures that disapprove the practice of celibacy.
The Basques reside in Southern Europe and mostly consist of extended families that focus mostly on farming. According to Douglass, it is expected that farms in Murelaga should hold a three generation family: an elderly couple, their adult children, and their grandchildren. Within this family, there is one heir, usually the