ABSTRACT
Most of the literature on Southern Italy tends to concern itself with rural areas. This may explain the divergence between the Neapolitan examples and the main arguments suggested in the literature on the Mediterranean. It was the women themselves who controlled their sexuality and decided whether or not to dispose of their virginity: the forms of courtship described were attempts to control women but also to provide some protection from error and deceit. The problem of 'allocation' of women's sexuality was not resolved with marriage. At marriage a woman shifted from the realm of responsibility and authority of her father to that of her husband. Women too differ in their views: many women express an acceptance of a 'natural' difference in the needs and sexuality of men and women. Yet the sexuality of women is subject to a greater degree of control and becomes the concern of social groups rather than being an individual affair.
