Resumen

LETELLIER, Charlotte. The First Sexual Relation in Venezuela. Opcion [online]. 2007, vol.23, n.52, pp.45-60. ISSN 1012-1587.

The universality of interdictions and the almost similarity from one society to another suggest that cultural codes are sexually distinct based on roles and functions of man and woman. Not a single society has known a fixed sexual morality which on the contrary seems to change regarding historical circumstances. Every individual is subject to his or her culture which he or her auto reproduces without realizing it. From the first steps into sexuality to an adult and active sexual life, individuals react regarding their specific roles and social frames. Sexual initiation is much ritualized in Venezuela and contains family’s honour as well as the social status of the individual. In France, it’s personal and private and only concerns the individual. Despite all this, the first sexual experience is an obliged passage experienced as a love act or as an initiation act. We shall see that depending on gender and social class, the conditions of the first sexual experience’s advent follow different schemes.

Palabras clave : Sexual relations; social functions; rituals; social functions.