Interweaving Tapestries of Culture and Sexuality in the Caribbean

Book excerpt: This book brings together the most recent work of Caribbean psychologists in the English-speaking islands of Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad on gender and sexuality. The authors analyse the unique challenges posed by contradictions between cultural values and modern sexual expression in the region. They examine a broad range of topics such as conceptions of gender roles in primary school children, sexual behavior and emotional social intelligence in adolescents, and sexual identities and orientations in adults. Chapters cover issues including how women who have sex with women (WSWs) self-identify, the 'Lebenswelt' (life world) of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Jamaica, transsexual care and its psychological impact, the influence of music on sexuality, how intimacy is defined, as well as the relationship between identity formation and the fear of intimacy in Jamaica, and the practice of polyamory in Jamaica and Trinidad. This distinctive collection is the first of its kind, grounded in both qualitative and quantitative research. It presents a sophisticated comparative analyses of the cultures of the Anglophone Caribbean represented by Trinidad, Jamaica and Barbados to offer a broader discussions of intimacy and relationships. With practical implications for therapy, it will be of great interest to scholars and practitioners of gender and sexuality studies, psychology and culture.