Gone are the days when parents or other guardians in a family would monitor what magazines or periodicals adolescents and youths could bring home and what TV shows/movies they could be allowed to watch. As the world becomes more interconnected than ever before, young people, with mobile phone devices and the internet nowadays, gain access to pornographic materials and can watch them in the privacy of their own rooms. As a corollary, it provokes in them curiosity about sex and related issues. In fact, relations driven by sensuality between unmarried young people are becoming increasingly common in Bangladesh society. With the threats of HIV/AIDS looming, sexual health problems involving young people have given rise to a renewed urgency globally. Dr. Lazeena Muna's book 'Romance and Pleasure: Understanding the Sexual Conduct of Young People in Dhaka in the Era of HIV and AIDS' depicts the social and cultural setting of urban Dhaka in order to help readers understand the youths' sexual conduct and the factors that contribute to sexual health risks, including pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, especially HIV, among the unmarried university or college-going young people. The book, which is mainly based on the author's doctoral research work at the University of London, also presents the situation in a wider context. The author examines the gender-related values and societal norms vis-à-vis the nature of relationships between young people.
The book consists of eight chapters. The first chapter discusses the HIV and AIDS situation in Bangladesh. HIV/AIDS is usually called an epidemic of the young people. Now the question arises whether or not Bangladesh is at risk of an HIV epidemic like in many less-developed countries. To answer this question, information is required on the proportion of population which is engaged in high-risk behaviour, and also what proportion of them is currently infected with HIV. Unfortunately, lack of proper knowledge and widespread myths and misconceptions regarding transmission of HIV among young people are prevalent in our society. This undesirable situation, the author observes, may lead to higher rate of unsafe sexual relationships. The second chapter focuses on the social construction of masculinity, femininity and marriage. Marriage is a central pillar in the social construction of sexuality in Bangladesh. Many social norms and expectations regarding sexual conduct stem from the concept of an ideal marriage, in which a 'virgin woman' enters the extended family of an older and economically established man. The middle class society in urban Dhaka values education and professional attachments. However, it is observed that marrying off the daughters at the right age after completion of their higher studies is a great challenge for the parents. Young women normally express frustrations and their helplessness over the divided realities concerning a bright career and an ideal marriage.
Chapter 3 analyses parental attitudes towards premarital sexual conduct and the role of parents in helping their children socialise and guiding them. Most parents express negative attitudes regarding premarital sexual conduct. These are reflected in the strict regulations and norms of behaviour that they impose on their children. It is clear from the evidence presented in this chapter that most young people fear development of the skills and emotional strength necessary to negotiate personal freedom. Parent-child communication in the middle class families is somewhat one-way. It tends to remain stuck in negative instructions regarding sexual conduct, which are often vague and confusing. The author argues that the style of parenting may have an important impact on the sexual behaviour of the young people.
In the subsequent chapters (4, 5 and 6), the author attempts to analyse the types of sexual conduct observed among young males and females. It is true that strong social sanctions against sexual intimacy outside marriage exist in Bangladesh. At the same time, an increase in the average age at marriage and enrolment in higher studies provides the young people with new opportunities for mixing with the opposite sex. This is especially the case in urban Dhaka in which the combined effects of modernisation, global media, and gender advances are gradually changing societal views and expectations from male-female relations and are starting to exert a profound impact on sexual behaviour of unmarried young people. Many youths evade parental and social restrictions, but not at the cost of jeopardising a woman's reputation and thus her marriage prospects. Contradictions between attitudes toward sexual relationship and practice emerge as a major characteristic of the male-female conduct in intimacy.
Chapter 7 presents the range of meanings, perceptions, and understandings of sexual conduct that contribute to an in-depth understanding of safer sex practice among young people in urban Dhaka. Young people exhibit a striking lack of awareness of their personal sexual health risks and safer sex practices. Although many young people know what AIDS is, there are many misconceptions surrounding it. Lazeena Muna observes, "Unprotected sexual intercourse and sharing of unclean syringes were the two modes of HIV transmission that were most cited by respondents. While general knowledge regarding the transmission of and protection from HIV was accurate, important cognitive deficiencies were discovered on deeper analysis, particularly misconceptions on STI [sexually transmitted infections] and HIV transmission and protective measures. Many respondents did not clearly understand the concept of safer sex or transmission of infection."
In the concluding chapter the author describes the background as well as major findings of her study. She also draws our attention to the epidemiology of risk: "The findings support the conclusion that (while) the majority of unmarried, college-going, middle class young people in Dhaka are at serious sexual health risk, especially a small group who is at high-risk of contracting STIs and potentially at risk of contracting HIV." The fact that sex has become very common among unmarried young people today is undeniable. It is a taboo subject because talking about it openly means acknowledging that such an "issue" exists. As a society, we are more accustomed to shutting our eyes and ears to the problems rather than facing them. According to social observers, it is high time we improved the sexual health of young people by promoting responsible sexual health behaviour.
S. M. Rayhanul Islam is an independent researcher.