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Homosexual practice is also found among the Samurai aristocracy in part because of the heavy influence that Buddhism had on their culture specifically during the early stages of the Edo period (1600–1868). Also during this period, "there was no necessary connection made between gender and sexual preference, because men, samurai in particular, were able to engage in both same and opposite sex affairs without being stigmatized." Because same-sex relationships were governed by a code of ethics, "elite men were able to pursue boys and young men who had not yet undergone their coming-of-age ceremonies, as well as transgender females of all ages from the lower classes who worked as actors and prostitutes." Although bisexuality in women was practiced, the notion of lesbianism was not documented and there is "no way of cognitively linking both male and female homosexuality.[20]