ABSTRACT
Sexual activity in Leeward Village takes only one socially approved form, with bulling and zammie considered nasty. Despite the taboo on the discussion of sex between parent and child, nature is considered a fundamental human urge and there is much talk about sex affairs in the village. Consensual cohabitation almost always precedes marriage, and marriage is usually delayed until some or all children have been born. Thus, older adolescents and young adults tend to mate extra-residentially; middle-aged adults are more likely to cohabit consensually, although a substantial number are married; and marriage is elected by older persons. Prevailing mating behavior and parental status derived from a total village census resulted in the differentiation between eight conjugal forms. Economic considerations also are instrumental in perpetuating non-legal mating, especially the visiting union, among poor women. Formal marriage, as opposed to non-legal mating, is considered to be a permanent, legally-binding and religiously-sanctioned union among the lower-class.
