Читать книгу Sex Rules! - Janice Z. Brodman - Страница 12

Sugar in the evening…

All parents want a nice young man for their daughter. One who comes to the house, looks you in the eye, shakes hands politely, tells you where they’re going, brings her home on time.

Not…

High in the mountains near the border of Tibet, the Mosuo of China live in villages nestled along the spectacular sapphire mountain lake Lugu. The Mosuo lead peaceful lives, raising yaks and other farm animals, growing crops, and—despite the occasional home satellite dish—following tradition.

They call the late teen years the “honey time.” At sixteen, a girl gets complete freedom to “make friends” with boys; that is, invite a chosen boy to spend the night in her bedroom in a special Azhu house. A girl is free to “make friends” with as many boys as she likes, and she alone decides what boy she’ll befriend.

When the girl decides the romance is over, she simply shuts the door of her Azhu house to him.

There’s just one fixed rule: the boy must show unfailing respect for her mother. He does it by sneaking into the girl’s bedroom after dark, when Mom’s asleep, and slipping out again before dawn, so no one will see him.

A boy who dares to show up in daylight to meet a girl’s parents proves he’s a disrespectful scoundrel with no respect for propriety…and Mom will toss him out on his sorry ass.

MOSUO OF CHINA