2nd-gens are a lot looser

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Indolink has an article summarizing a recent study, conducted by a group of undergrads in the Department of Medical Informatics at Columbia University, that is sure to invoke a juicy discussion here. Titled, “Sexual Decision-Making of Immigrant East Indians: Risky or Not?” (password may be required unless you use the abstract link to the PDF), the study, by my own slightly irreverent estimation, is a survey that examines the question, “who is sexually looser: ‘ABCDs’ or ‘FOBs’?” I mean really, after years of increasing ABCD/FOB solidarity, do we really want to see this type of hand-grenade thrown into the mix? Sometimes statistics are better left unexposed. From the abstract:

As immigrants in the United States, young South Asians face cultural shock when it comes to sexuality and sexual behavior. Consequently, a tension exists between the belief systems of the country of origin and the individual’s belief system, influenced by American culture. The objective of this study is to understand the socio-cultural influences on individual decision-making regarding the sexual activity of a South Asian (specifically, Indian) immigrant population, using theories and methods from cognitive science. Twenty first- and second-generation, heterosexual, male and female Indians living in New York City were interviewed regarding their sexual activity. Results show that 55% of participants engaged in sexual activity, of which 22% were first-generation and 82% were second-generation. [Link]

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p>Okay, right off the bat I want to object to their sampling method. I mean, COME ON. Everyone knows that desis (both genders) from New York City are on average more slutty than the general desi population (Abhi looks for a place to hide from a couple of his bunker-mates). From the Indolink article:

“Using cognitive analysis, we documented distinct patterns of safe sex behavior and specific reasoning strategies associated with these patterns” reports [Neeti] Joshi and her colleagues Nicole Yoskowitz and Kelley Urry. They also state: “We have identified a pattern of low sexual activity in a sample of first- and second-generation young-adult immigrant Indians, with significantly less sexual activity in the first generation”…

Throughout the study, Joshi explores the decision-making processes, attitudes, and belief systems of young Desis with respect to their sexual behavior, and, in the process, identifies the socio-cognitive factors that push young immigrant adults to move towards risky sexual behavior in the American environment.

The beliefs and attitudes surveyed included: information related to condom use beliefs, family expectations related to marriage, participant’s preferences related to marriage and beliefs pertaining to HIV. And as for sexual behavior, each participant was categorized into one of three groups related to the level of sexual activity: (1) no sexual activity, (2) sexual activity but no intercourse, and (3) sexual intercourse according to condom use practices.[Link]

Here are a few more shocking stats:

7.8% of first-generation South Asians reporting never engaging in any sexual activity, whereas 81.8% of second-generation South Asians reported engaging in sexual activity.

Only 11% of first-generation as compared to 45% of second-generation participants reported engaging in sexual intercourse. [Link]

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p>I’m taking a tremendous risk by even blogging about this issue! After all, both my parents read this blog every day. But I have always been inspired by Kennedy’s words: Ask not what your blog can do for you. Ask what you can do for your blog readers (I’m still going to plead the fifth faster than Monica Goodling on this though).

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p>All joking aside, the 8-page report I linked to at the top is worth the read. The sections titled “Parental Relations” and the “Conclusions” were especially interesting to me.

Okay, discuss among yourselves, and please, let’s keep it more respectful than I did. 🙂

110 thoughts on “2nd-gens are a lot looser”

  1. Respected Sex Ed Teacher, How come (pun unintended) I never saw you in my classroom in my “prestigious” school in India? Because you never showed up, all my education in matters of “yon sambandh” was from English and (badly dubbed in English) Chinese xxx movies Oh-pobrecito!

    I woulda had to have been teaching you at the age of six or seven! I mean, damn, I ain’t that old! 😉

  2. Antahkarana #82

    What would spur that, though?

    That teen rebel thing was funny. I am not sure, what will bring pre-marital abstinence back in vogue though. I am just going by the fact that things change and what was fashionable once goes out of fashion later and then comes back again. Maybe not rebellion, maybe AIDs or other sexual diseases or some new-fangled wildly popular religious movement or maybe earlier marriages or even child marriages or some paradigm shift in morals and values that we can’t foresee now. Making it taboo without controls will always bring in the forbidden fruit syndrome, so I don’t think it may happen that way.

    Honestly, while I remain a dying species of 2nd generation virgins-til-marriage Indian girls, I’m not opposed to these kids…uh, I mean…my peers…having sex as long as they *SAFELY* psychologically and physically experience the emotional fulfillment, pleasure, chance of pain, VD, and/or babies, and understand the consequences are more often than not heart-break (especially if you’re not as thick skinned as you thought you were).

    Evidently there was something that made you and a few others choose pre-marital abstinence. Perhaps more maybe influenced similarly, but I don’t have any issues with people wanting to have pre-marital sex, so long as they don’t think of it as progress and a choice to keep sex within marriage as backwards or primitive.

  3. siddhartha, in another thread:

    We want a place here where people are comfortable discussing a wide range of topics without feeling put down, objectified, or devalued. A safe space. If you want to be part of the solution, the first step is to take pains to not be part of the problem. Always err on the side of respect. It’s a good principle for living, whether in the “real” or “virtual” worlds.

    I was very happy to see this, and apologized for my initial name-calling; however, now I’m having some trouble reconciling Siddhartha’s statement with the continued presence on this thread of comments 47, 57, and now 105. What gives?

  5. however, now I’m having some trouble reconciling Siddhartha’s statement with the continued presence on this thread of comments 47, 57, and now 105. What gives?

    vivek:

    i’m #47. i probably squeaked by on the humor exception. but frankly, morningsunshine’s comment was so over the top and out of context that it deserved a gentle slam.

    not that i disagee with what she said. its just that the words are right but the music’s off-key.

    you’re riled up now, but i’m sure you’ll agree with me the morning after the night before.

  8. See I used to play cricket, so I will give the analogy based on it. In cricket, its in umpire’s discretion when to give a “wide bowl” on the leg side. Every umpire has its own standard if the distnace from wickets which warrants wide bowl, people generally do not complain as long as the standards are not really weird and the umpire is consistent . If he gives ok to one bowl and wide to another bowl which was pitched at the same place, eyebrows will be raised.

    Thats what seemed to have happened here, sometimes a lot of snark and other offensive stuff goes by ok and sometimes even a small joke is considered unacceptable. And it seems like it depends a lot on if you are in the good books of one person or another i.e its personal.

    But its no biggy, I like stuff on this web site, a lot. I will continue reading it, and will continue commenting on it. Since it is considered a private website -even though its it wants a lot of readership and encourages comments – you are entitled to do what you please.Delete me, ban me whatever, its your prerogative. But lately it seems less like a place to express opinion, have some fun and more like a desi club where you get in if you are a popular kid , otherwise hounded by overbearing bouncers!

    I think morningsunshine was half joking and I was going on in the same vain.

  9. not sure if this was mentioned already but… the summary begins with discussion of INDIA and the spread of HIV/AIDS, and samples Indians in NEW YORK? what is the correlation. please tell me they didn’t receive grant money for this. what a faulty waste! there are so many of us, a study of 22 people from a restricted geographic location should NOT be titled “sexual decision making of immigrant east indians” it’s VERY misleading. it should read “sexual decision making of new york indians” if that… 22 for new york even seems slim!