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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGV— PUBLICATION NO. 



Seduction of adolescent boys by mature women was 

 not reported. Most boys seem to have their first 

 experience with girls of about their own age or 

 somewhat older. The more common practice seems 

 to be for a boy to waylay a girl as she passes alone 

 through the campina. Sometimes a group of boys 

 waylays a group of girls. As a general rule, either 

 type of seduction is preceded by verbal plans or hints 

 and certainly by prior acquaintance. I have heard 

 of no cases of violent rape. 



By the age of IS or 16 a boy makes dates with a 

 girl to meet him at a given place in the campina 

 when she is supposed to be coming home from 

 market or is out on errands. Another opportunity is 

 during drinking bouts, when the parents are too 

 occupied to pay attention to the young folk. 



There is a belief that a boy who has robbed a girl 

 of her virginity and is apprehended will be brought 

 before her parents. He has the choice either of 

 paying 500 soles (approximately $76) or of marrying 

 her. Some informants said it is the law ; others, that 

 it is only a custom. None, however, was able to 

 point out an instance in which such compensation 

 had been paid. To judge by my observations, it 

 would seem tiiat nmst parents ignore the matter if 

 the couple is not caught in the act and unless the 

 boy is a "good catch" for their daughter. Indeed, 

 there is little else that they could do, for a yijung 

 adolescent boy is able neither to pay 500 soles, which 

 is a small fortune in Moche, nor to set up a house- 

 hold for himself and the girl. There is a pose taken 

 by most adults that premarital intercourse by girls is 

 reprehensible, but the typical Mochero really takes it 

 for granted in both sexes. The boy and girl receive 

 a beating if apprehended in the act, and the parents 

 may insist on at least a customary "m:irriage." 

 Generally, however, it is more convenient to luish 

 the matter up. 



The modern Peruvian lower-class pattern is fol- 

 lowed in requiring that a girl be accompanied by 

 another girl, by a group of boys and girls, or by her 

 parents or brother when she is in public. Actually, 

 she is not very strictly guarded, and there are 

 opportunities for arranging trysts. The Rlocheros 

 are, however, neither promiscuous nor obsessed with 

 sex. To the contrary, sex is not an emotion-laden 

 topic, and it has no great interest to them. Although 

 many individuals are somewhat promiscuous during 

 the first year or two of experimentation, a man and 

 a girl usually form an attachment which lasts for 

 months or years before either of them is old enough 



to think of marrying or settling down. Mistresses 

 show great fidelity, and men do not circulate promis- 

 cuously. Furthermore, the chaperonage system 

 somewhat restricts promiscuity. 



With respect to perversions, there seems to be no 

 bestiality with animals. Several informants had 

 never heard of such a thing; a couple of others had 

 heard some jokes about it, but these referred to the 

 Sierra and the informants were not very interested. 

 Two men have been identified as male transvestites 

 (inayiconcs). One, a Mochero, is obsessed with 

 religion, dresses like a monk part of the time, and 

 is said to have avoided relations with women. The 

 other is a jorastero. Neither has been attributed 

 homosexual tendencies. There are some women who 

 are said to have no interest in men. They are spoken 

 of in whispers as homosexuals {inaricona!;) , but I 

 do not know if they actually practice perversions. 

 On the whole, Moche seems to be remarkably free 

 of unnatural sex practices. 



There were no professional prostitutes living in 

 Moche during the period of study. It is said that 

 some appear during the big fiestas at New Year's 

 and San Isidro, but they do most of their business 

 with jorastcros and visitors. Four married women 

 have been mentioned as willing to add to their earn- 

 ings furtively, and there may be more. I am under 

 the impression, however, that prostitution for gain 

 is very little practiced or patronized by Mocheros. 

 Comparatively few Mocheros seem to have an in- 

 terest in or even knowledge of the brothels in the 

 nearby city. 



The modeled vases of the ancient Mochica depict 

 a large variety of heterosexual positions and perver- 

 sions, and a good many of these motifs linger on in 

 Ch.inn: art. Modern Moche seems to have lost most 

 or all of these. Sexual relations are accomplished in 

 the so-called normal manner. 



In the household, the adult pair try to have a 

 sleeping room to themselves. Separate rooms, how- 

 ever, are not possible in many cases. The parents 

 occasionally go outside the house for their relations 

 or send the children out. Perhaps th.e majority of 

 children, however, have seen intercourse at an early 

 age, and practically all children know about it in a 

 vague way by the time they are 8 or 9 years old, 

 though they fail to understand its details or biological 

 purpose. There is no puritanical attitude about it, 

 and there is no effort to withhold knowledge from 

 children, though privacy is preferred in the act. 

 Intercourse during menstruation is tabooed, but 



