Introduction The study of sexual behaviour is a controversial one in most societies. In Britain, for example, funding for the largest-ever survey of British sexual behaviour was blocked by the British Cabinet, and was only eventually completed due to the intervention of an independent charitable foundation (Wellings et al., 1994). Jahoda (1990: 16) notes how the cross-cultural analysis of sexual practices can both create and sustain prejudices. He recalls the writings of Fran<;ois Peron (177 5-181 0) who, during one of his voyages, encountered a group of natives keen to see whether a sailor was white 'all over'. The sailor's erection was greeted by the natives with surprise and delight. Peron concluded that the natives' response demonstrated that they were sexually inadequate. Interestingly, this notion of the 'savage' as 'sexually inadequate' is at odds with a more prevalent prejudice, that such 'primitive people' were retarded in their mental development by their excessive preoccupation with sex (Jahoda, 1990).