This article focuses on the socialization of children and youth with respect to gender and sexuality, from a socio-anthropological perspective. The work is based on ethnographic research in a group of 5-14-year-old boys and girls in a community in Baia de Todos os Santos, Bahia, Brazil. Despite the strong influence of family and school in primary socialization, the children reproduced and re-elaborated norms and practices on appropriate gender and sexual conduct, especially among their peers, and primarily in the context of play. The research analyzes the children’s representations and practices in this socializing process, showing how gender and sexuality are socially constructed according to the contexts in which the different social interactions take place.
Sexuality; Gender; Socialization; Childhood