The Violent Character of Sexual-Eroticism in Cross-Cultural Comparison

Schneider (1996) found that sexual-erotic sentiments are devaluated by Americans youth, but not by Germans. This devaluation of sexual-erotic sentiments led to a merger of coercive-deviant and sexualerotic categories and made it harder for Americans to differentiate between emotions of violence and passion. Results are now set into a theoretical perspective. Ideal types of sexual emancipated and constrained identities, developed from the literature, are used to fit the empirical data into my theoretical model. Other comparative studies of American and European youth that found cross cultural differences in emotions of shame and violence are introduced. Finally I will discuss the protestant ethic and double moral standards as potential causes for the stigmatization of the sexual-erotic domain. The Violent Character of Sexual-Eroticism in Cross-Cultural Comparison Emotions reflect appraisals of situational stimuli and changes in physiological sensation (Thoits 1989), but they also can be viewed as social constructions and improvisations (Averill, 1980) that reflect roleidentities (Smith-Lovin, 1990). Typical emotions correspond to the affective quality of particular roleidentities (Heise 1987). By confirming salient identities (Stryker 1980), people experience emotions characteristic of the role-identities (Schneider (1996). Those who validate positive role-identities experience positive emotions (a lover feels passion, for example); those confirming negative roleidentities feel negative emotions (a widow experiences grief). In this way, the private emotional lives of people are a function of their identity-situated selves in social interaction. American youth devalue sexual-erotic role-identities; and emotions associated with these identities (Schneider 1996). To illuminate the problem of the stigmatization of sexual eroticism in the U.S., I develop a theoretical framework based on the works of Giddens (1992) and Scheff (1990, Sheff & Retzinger 1991). Giddens’ idea of the transformation of intimacy can be developed into a model that helps to illuminate the relative development of sexual-eroticism in different cultures. According to Giddens, Freud (1953), Reich (1961), and Marcuse (1970) are wrong in their belief that modern societies depend on sexual repression. Instead, two tendencies have led to the privatization of the sexual Page 1 of 12 Schneider, Andreas. 1999. "The Violent Character of Sexual-Eroticism in Cross-cultural Comparison.