A rather benign sexual culture: socio-sexual lifestyles of youth in urban Central Java, Indonesia

Sexuality is clearly a key, if often neglected, dimension for both population and medical geography. The challenge of HIV prevention has given rise to research efforts to understand the pattern and dynamics of sexual lifestyles. This paper reports upon findings from such a study undertaken upon the socio‐sexual lifestyles of youth (18–24 years of age) from factory (low‐income) and university (middle class) social environments in urban Central Java, Indonesia. The study involved a combination of quantitative (2000 person sample survey) and qualitative (8 focus group discussions and 15 in‐depth interviews) methods, with data collected from 2003–2004. Analysis of the basic sexual parameters reveals relatively low levels of pre‐marital sexual experience, but (of concern) very low levels of contraceptive precautions within such activity. The main part of the paper concerns a discussion of a range of young men and women's socio‐sexual lifestyles (identified by cluster analysis). The core Javanese concept of gaul is explored in discriminating different global/traditional orientations. The lifestyles are interpreted in terms of the reflexivity of leisure activities, taste and dress, within the broader contexts of Javanese culture and the social transition occurring in the Republic of Indonesia. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.