Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Sexual Practices and Sexual Health Among Three Generations of Men in Bangladesh: Exploring Gender- and Sexuality-Assemblages

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Sexuality & Culture Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Men’s self-understandings, identities and sexual practices vary widely, being influenced by age, social generation and historical and cultural factors. Despite this, only a few studies have explored the implications of men’s identities and sexual practices for sexual health from a social generational perspective, and none from within a South Asian context. To address this gap, this paper examines how men’s sexual practices vary by social generation in Bangladesh. Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit responses from 34 men belonging to three different social generations and living in three Bangladeshi cities. Of them, 10 men belonged to an older social generation, 11 belonged to a middle generation and the rest belonged to a younger social generation. Using sexuality-assemblage theory, this paper explores generational similarities and differences in sexual practices, and associated implications for sexual health. It suggests that the sexual practices of each social generation produced generation-specific sexual health risks and the possibilities of sexual pleasure.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Likewise, affects may be either singular or aggregative. “Singular affects may be micropolitical drivers of de-territorialisation, enabling bodies to resist aggregating or constraining forces, and opening up new capacities to act, feel or desire” (Alldred and Fox, 2015, p. 909). In contrast, aggregative affects act to create convergence, stabilities, and set limits on bodily capacities. While singular affects (such as a caress or a kiss) may produce discontinuities within an assemblage, aggregative affects (such as a sexual code of conduct) tend to produce stabilities (Alldred and Fox, 2015). Singular affects can occasionally deterritorialise an assemblage, producing change in the form of “lines of flight”, ruptures and discontinuities (Fox and Alldred, 2015, p. 402).

  2. Fox and Alldred (2015) make an important distinction between “territorialisation” and “deterritorialisation”, both of which are characteristics of an assemblage. Territorialisation describes how well defined the identity of an assemblage is and occurs when “affects deriving from relations [with]in assemblages specify or ‘localise’ the capacities of a body or other relations” (Alldred and Fox, 2015, p. 909). In contrast, deterritorialisation occurs when an assemblage is flexible enough to change, and instead of limiting existing capacities allows for the production of new ones.

  3. It is important to recognise that our focus on men’s experiences and perspectives means that the accounts of women (and of the wives of the men interviewed) are of necessity absent. Whether women experienced the sexual pleasure and fulfilment that men claimed they did, is a moot point.

  4. In contrast to rural environment, a crowded urban environment offers greater anonymity. Due to deindividuation, an individual cannot be easily identified and distinguished for wrongdoing.

References

  • Alam, N. (2010). Sexual risk behaviors among men in general population in Bangladesh. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from http://sph.bracu.ac.bd/news/presentation/Nazmul%20Alam.ppt.

  • Alldred, P., & Fox, N. J. (2015). The sexuality-assemblages of young men: A new materialist analysis. Sexualities, 18(8), 905–920. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460715579132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barad, K. (1996). Meeting the universe halfway: Realism and social constructivism without contradiction. In L. H. Nelson & J. Nelson (Eds.), Feminism, science, and the philosophy of science (pp. 161–194). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowleg, L., Teti, M., Massie, J. S., Patel, A., Malebranche, D. J., & Tschann, J. M. (2011). ‘What does it take to be a man? What is a real man?’: Ideologies of masculinity and HIV sexual risk among Black heterosexual men. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 13(05), 545–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapagain, M. (2005). Masculine interest behind high prevalence of female contraceptive methods in rural Nepal. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 13(1), 35–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collumbien, M., & Hawkes, S. (2000). Missing men’s messages: Does the reproductive health approach respond to men’s sexual health needs? Culture, Health and Sexuality, 2(2), 135–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. W. (1987). Gender and power. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. (1995). Masculinities (1st ed.). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coole, D., & Frost, S. (Eds.) (2010). Introducing the new materialisms. In New materialisms: Ontology, agency, and politics (pp. 1–43). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

  • Courtenay, W. H. (2000a). Construction of masculinity and their influence on men’s well-being: A theory of gender and health. Social Science & Medicine, 50, 1385–1401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Courtenay, W. H. (2000b). Engendering health: A social constructionist examination of men’s health beliefs and behaviors. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 1(1), 4–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dean, J., Wollin, J., Stewart, D., Debattista, J., & Mitchell, M. (2012). Hidden yet visible: Methodological challenges researching sexual health in Sudanese refugee communities. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 14(8), 911–924.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deleuze, G. (1988). Spinoza: practical philosophy. San Francisco, CA: City Lights.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1988). A thousand plateaus. London: Athlone.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elam, G., & Fenton, K. A. (2003). Researching sensitive issues and ethnicity: Lessons from sexual health. Ethnicity and Health, 8(1), 15–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eves, R. (2016). Reforming men: Pentecostalism and masculinity in Papua New Guinea. The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 27(2), 244–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, P. J., Colvin, C., Peacock, D., & Dworkin, S. L. (2016). What role can gender-transformative programming for men play in increasing men’s HIV testing and engagement in HIV care and treatment in South Africa? Culture, Health and Sexuality, 18(11), 1251–1264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, N. J., & Alldred, P. (2013). The sexuality-assemblage: Desire, affect, anti-humanism. The Sociological Review, 61(4), 769–789.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, N. J., & Alldred, P. (2015). New materialist social inquiry: Designs, methods and the research-assemblage. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 18(4), 399–414. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2014.921458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franz, A., Worrell, M., & Vögele, C. (2016). Discourses of sexual relationships in a sample of German and British young people: A Q methodological study. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 18(4), 391–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gazi, R., Khan, S. I., Haseen, F., Sarma, H., Islam, M. A., Wirtz, A. L., et al. (2009). Young clients of hotel-based sex workers in Bangladesh: Vulnerability to HIV, risk perceptions, and expressed needs for interventions. International Journal of Sexual Health, 21(3), 167–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, A., Jewkes, R., & Sikweyiya, Y. (2017). “I tried to resist and avoid bad friends” the role of social contexts in shaping the transformation of masculinities in a gender transformative and livelihood strengthening intervention in south africa. Men and Masculinities. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X17696173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasan, M. K., Aggleton, P., & Persson, A. (2015). Rethinking gender, men and masculinity: Representations of men in the South Asian reproductive and sexual health literatures. International Journal of Men’s Health, 14(2), 146–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasan, M. K., Aggleton, P., & Persson, A. (2018). The makings of a man: Social generational masculinities in Bangladesh. Journal of Gender Studies, 27(3), 343–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hearn, J., Nordberg, M., Andersson, K., Balkmar, D., Gottzén, L., Klinth, R., et al. (2012). Hegemonic masculinity and beyond: 40 years of research in Sweden. Men and Masculinities, 15(1), 31–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinchliff, S., Tetley, J., Lee, D., & Nazroo, J. (2017). Older adults’ experiences of sexual difficulties: Qualitative findings from the English longitudinal study on ageing (ELSA). The Journal of Sex Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2016.1269308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hossain, K. J. (2003). Male involvement in family planning in Bangladesh: Factors constraining low use and the potential for augmenting the CPR. Dhaka: Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hou, X., & Ma, N. (2012). The effect of women’s decision-making power on maternal health services uptake: Evidence from Pakistan. Health Policy and Planning, 28(2), 176–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull, T. H. (2008). Sexual pleasure and wellbeing. International Journal of Sexual Health, 20(1–2), 133–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imtiaz, S. M. S. (2012). Young men in a colourful city: Masculinity, young men’s sexual practices, and HIV/AIDS in Dhaka, Bangladesh. PhD thesis, The University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam.

  • Kalish, R., & Kimmel, M. (2011). Hooking up: Hot hetero sex or the new numb normative? Australian Feminist Studies, 26(67), 137–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamal, N. (2000). The influence of husbands on contraceptive use by Bangladeshi women. Health Policy and Planning, 15(1), 43–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan, M. A. (2006). Sex and sexuality in Islam. Lahore: Nashriyat.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan, S. (1997). Sex, secrecy and shamefulness: Developing a sexual health response to the needs of males who have sex with males in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dhaka: Naz Foundation International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan, S. I. (2003). Situation assessment of male sex trade in Chittagong. The final technical report. Retrieved from Dhaka: ICDDRB.

  • Khan, S. I., Hudson-Rodd, N., Saggers, S., & Bhuiya, A. (2005). Men who have sex with men’s sexual relations with women in Bangladesh. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 7(2), 159–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, M. S. (2007). The sexual self: The construction of sexual scripts. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kismödi, E., Corona, E., Maticka-Tyndale, E., Rubio-Aurioles, E., & Coleman, E. (2017). Sexual rights as human rights: A guide for the WAS declaration of sexual rights. International Journal of Sexual Health, 29(sup1), 1–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lakhani, A., Gandhi, K., & Collumbien, M. (2001). Addressing semen loss concerns: Towards culturally appropriate HIV/AIDS interventions in Gujarat, India. Reproductive Health Matters, 9(18), 49–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liamputtong, P. (2013). Qualitative research methods (4th ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKenzie, J. M. (Ed.). (1995). General editor’s introduction. In Colonial Masculinity: The ‘manly Englishman’ and the ‘effeminate Bengali’ in the late nineteenth century (pp. vii–viii). Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Majumder, M. K. (1999). Bangladesh: O my brothers, drivers and helpers! In M. Foreman (Ed.), AIDS and men: Taking risks or taking responsibility? (pp. 204–219). London: PANOS/Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannheim, K. (1952). The problem of generations. In P. Kecskemeti (Ed.), Essays on the sociology of knowledge (pp. 276–320). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCormack, M., Anderson, E., & Adams, A. (2014). Cohort effect on the coming out experiences of bisexual men. Sociology, 48(6), 1207–1223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullany, B. C. (2010). Spousal agreement on maternal health practices in Kathmandu, Nepal. Journal of Biosocial Science, 42(5), 689–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muna, L. (2005). Romance and pleasure: Understanding the sexual conduct of young people in Dhaka in the era of HIV and AIDS. Dhaka: The University Press Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noy, C. (2008). Sampling knowledge: The hermeneutics of snowball sampling in qualitative research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 11(4), 327–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton, M. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plummer, K. (2010). Generational sexualities, subterranean traditions, and the hauntings of the sexual world: Some preliminary remarks. Symbolic Interaction, 33(2), 163–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahman, S. (2014). Broken promises of globalization: The case of the Bangladesh garment industry. Lanham, MA: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravi, A., Pfeiffer, M. R., Rosner, Z., & Shea, J. A. (2017). Identifying health experiences of domestically sex-trafficked women in the USA: A qualitative study in Rikers Island Jail. Journal of Urban Health, 94(3), 406–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, J. P. (2009). Circles in the surf: Australian masculinity, mortality and grief. Critical Public Health, 19(3–4), 417–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowntree, M. R. (2014). ‘Comfortable in my own skin’: A new form of sexual freedom for ageing baby boomers. Journal of Aging Studies, 31, 150–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudrum, S., Oliffe, J. L., & Benoit, C. (2017). Discourses of masculinity, femininity and sexuality in Uganda’s stand proud, get circumcised campaign. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 19(2), 225–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Säävälä, M., & Char, A. (2014). Semen loss and sexual anxiety among young unmarried men: Being young and vulnerable in rural India. Sexuality and Culture, 18(1), 103–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabo, D., & Gordon, D. F. (Eds.). (1995). Rethinking men’s health and illness: The relevance of gender studies. In Men’s health and illness: Gender, power and the body (pp. 1–21). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salam, M. A., Alim, M. A., & Noguchi, T. (2006). Spousal abuse against women and its consequences on reproductive health: A study in the urban slums in Bangladesh. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 10(1), 83–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schuler, S. R., Lenzi, R., Badal, S. H., & Nazneen, S. (2018). Men’s perspectives on women’s empowerment and intimate partner violence in rural Bangladesh. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 20(1), 113–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seidler, V. J. (2006). Transforming masculinities: Men, culture, bodies, power, sex and love. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, N., Singh, S., & Mondal, S. (2013). Understanding the factors affecting the HIV epidemic in Maharashtra: Application of proximate determinants framework. Sexuality and Culture, 17(4), 540–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinha, S. (2015). Reasons for women’s entry into sex work: A case study of Kolkata, India. Sexuality and Culture, 19(1), 216–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sondy, A. D. (2014). The crisis of Islamic masculinities. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • South, S. J., Trent, K., & Bose, S. (2012). India’s ‘missing women’and men’s sexual risk behavior. Population Research and Policy Review, 31(6), 777–795.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Story, W. T., & Burgard, S. A. (2012). Couples’ reports of household decision-making and the utilization of maternal health services in Bangladesh. Social Science and Medicine, 75(12), 2403–2411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Twenge, J. M., Sherman, R. A., & Wells, B. E. (2015). Changes in American adults’ sexual behavior and attitudes, 1972–2012. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(8), 2273–2285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2016). Bangladesh: Growing the economy through advances in agriculture. Retrieved Jan 8, 2018, from http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2016/10/07/bangladesh-growing-economy-through-advances-in-agriculture.

  • World Health Organisation (WHO). (2010). Developing sexual health programmes: A framework for action. Geneva: WHO.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support given them by the Bandhu Social Welfare Society (BSWS), the Family Planning Association of Bangladesh, the Bonoful Social Welfare Centre, the University of Chittagong and BRAC University in Bangladesh. They also thank all the men for their participation in the study. The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this paper. Finally, the first author sincerely thank both Professor Nick J. Fox and Dr Pam Alldred for their time to discuss with him in Sydney about assemblage theory and related topics. 

Funding

Funding for fieldwork and research costs was received from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, UNSW Sydney.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Social Research in Health (CSRH), UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Md Kamrul Hasan, Peter Aggleton & Asha Persson

Authors
  1. Md Kamrul Hasan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter Aggleton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Asha Persson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Md Kamrul Hasan.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were carried out in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hasan, M.K., Aggleton, P. & Persson, A. Sexual Practices and Sexual Health Among Three Generations of Men in Bangladesh: Exploring Gender- and Sexuality-Assemblages. Sexuality & Culture 23, 475–493 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9566-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9566-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation