Alfred Kinsey remains the most renowned scientists in the field of sexology. His studies yield important information that helped shape the idea of sex and continues to educate all in the most private aspect of our lives. The Kinsey film is a great depiction of his life, research, and impact on the perspectives of sex as we know it. To begin, Alfred’s childhood was very common in the late 40’s, early 50’s. He grew up with a very demanding father, who was established in the church community. He was raised Christian and very conservative. Therefore, was taught nothing about masturbation, let alone the act of sexual intercourse. He was always interested in biology and was adamant about studying this as a career, despite his father’s wishes. This …show more content…
He proposed a theory that people are different from one another, yet they strive to be the same. People have the desire to “fit in” or be “normal. This subconscious yearning to be like others causes people to betray their natural nature and to be untrue to their selves. What one considers the norm, pertaining to sex, another might not. Since the topic is rarely discussed, the idea of “normal” in society is ultimately a guess. We should not disregard our natural behaviors as humans to please others or to be accepted into a society or a culture. We have the freedom to make our own sexual decisions and possess our own values. This being said, it should be accepted and “normal” to express ourselves how we would like to without a second thought of what is important to …show more content…
In the late 40’s and early 50’s, sex was a topic that was almost never discussed, that most were ignorant to. Things like masturbation and homosexuality were issues many had little to no knowledge about; abstinence was the social “norm”. Sexology was an unconventional topic to speak of or specifically research. Because of the low popularity of the topic, controversial decision to interview, and sexual experiments with volunteers, the Rockefeller Foundation pulled the plug on funding Kinsey’s research. It was gathered that these methods do not cast an accurate depiction of the general population and should no longer be
Jordanova, Ludmilla. Sexual Visions: Images of Gender in Science and Medicine between the 18th and 20th Centuries. London: Harrester Wheatsheaf, 1989.
Rosenberg shares the account of a physician on his experiences with “aggressive masculinity” in his field of work: “‘I regret,’ a self-consciously horrified physician recorded in the early 1880s, ‘to say that I have known some fathers to tickle the genital organs of their infant boys until a complete erection of the little penis ensued, which effect pleases the father as an evidence of a robust boy”. The trend of fathers trying to ensure that their young sons were masculine and robust was common during the 19th-century. Fathers sent their sons off to brothels, also known as bawdy houses. This was so important in the 19th-century because effeminate men were pitied and even hated, so they looked to establish and affirm their masculinity in whatever way they could, even if it meant having sex with a prostitute at a very young age. Their ability to perform sexually was taken very seriously, and was what essentially defined them during this
Warner, M. The trouble with normal, sex, politics, and the ethics of queer life. Harvard
Masters and Johnson were a pioneering team in the field of human sexuality, both in the domains of research and therapy. William Howell Masters, a gynecologist, was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1915. Virginia Eshelman Johnson, a psychologist, was born in Springfield, Montana in 1925. To fully appreciate their contribution, it is necessary to see their work in historic context. In 1948, Alfred C. Kinsey and his co-workers, responding to a request by female students at Indiana University for more information on human sexual behavior, published the book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. They followed this five years later with Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. These books began a revolution in social awareness of and public attention given to human sexuality. At the time, public morality severely restricted open discussion of sexuality as a human characteristic, and specific sexual practices, especially sexual behaviors that did not lead to procreation. Kinsey's books, which among other things reported findings on the frequency of various sexual practices including homosexuality, caused a furor. Some people felt that the study of sexual behavior would undermine the family structure and damage American society. It was in this climate - one of incipient efforts to break through the denial of human sexuality and considerable resistance to these efforts - that Masters and Johnson began their work. Their primary contribution has been to help define sexuality as a healthy human trait and the experience of great pleasure and deep intimacy during sex as socially acceptable goals. As a physician interested in the nature of sexuality and the sexual experience, William Masters wanted to conduct research that would lead to an objective understanding of these topics. In 1957, he hired Virgina Johnson as a research assistant to begin this research issue. Together they developed polygraph-like instruments that were designed to measure human sexual response. Using these tools, Masters and Johnson initiated a project that ultimately included direct laboratory observation and measurement of 700 men and women while they were having intercourse or masturbating. Based on the data collected in this study, they co-authored the book Human Sexual Response in 1966. In this book, they identify and describe four phases in the human sexual response cycle : excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. By this point in time, the generally repressive attitude toward sexuality was beginning to lift and the book found a ready audience.
This new sense of equality and freedom manifested itself through what might be termed as “unladylike things”. The introduction of birth control in the last decade empowered women to take control of their own body as well. The Flapper became more open to experiment with sexual behaviors than previous generations. Sigmund Freud, a modern-day psychoanalyst, claimed that this sudden expr...
The article “The Invention of Homosexuality and Heterosexuality” addresses how homosexuality was invented and how society accepted this new form of sexual orientation. Homosexuality is more socially acceptable in modern times. However, dating back to the nineteen century homosexually was classified as a disease that had to be cured. In the nineteen century, homosexuals diverted from the “norm” thus, they were seen a disability. Mann and Susan Archer state that “Foucault argued that the invention of the reviled "homosexual" is one of the most significant and enduring legacies of this period in sexual history as well as a classic example of the way in which assorted sexual acts were re-conceptualized in the late nineteenth century from fleeting practices to symptoms of permanent disorder and sexual personage.” This article adopts concepts of normalcy, and race in relation to heterosexuality.
Rubin, Gail. "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality." American Feminist Thought at Century's End : A Reader. Ed. Linda S. Kauffman Cambridge, Ma : Blackwell, 1993. 3-64.
“Throughout the 1980’s these arguments began to lose legitimacy as the American republic reiterated its support (Fose)”. “Although this topic is highly debated, 93 percent of Americans support “sex or sexuallity” courses being taught in high school and 84 percent supports teachings in junior high (Fose)”. More people requested sex education because of the AIDs epidemic. The AIDs epidemic cau...
His theory as to why homosexuality is abnormal (because of humans misusing their body parts) may propose a weak argument at first; however he supports this aspect of his argument by giving an example unrelated to human sexuality. His example involves the use of our teeth, although we may not realize it, those who do not have teeth usually don’t enjoy consuming all of their food through a straw.... ... middle of paper ... ...
It was not until Kinsey et al. (1953) developed the Kinsey Scale to measure sexual orientation that the notion of sexual fluidity began to be considered in Western cultures. It consisted of a seven-category continuum based on two indicators: sexual fantasy and sexual experience. Both fantasy and experimental measures were found to have similar result, and many agreed this form of measurement was better than one consisting of only a few discrete variables (Ellis, Burke, & Ames, 1987).
Marshall Cavendish Corporation. Sex and Society. New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish Corporation , 2010. Print.
He explains that the male sexuality is tied to physical sensations and the idea of what identity is. We see sexuality as part of our identity and that is why we want to put labels on it. We often associate what it is to be a man with certain qualities and if people don't fit into those they think that they are not a 'real man'. Stoltenberg says that we shouldn't focus on those things because there is no male sex, that is something that was created by society. Which I find interesting because yes we separate people based on what is between there legs and we place a certain expectation on how they should act but can we still say there is no male sex. Even though the expectation that society has put on the male sex on how to act should happen, they can act the way they want, should we take off that
I had the opportunity to watch the movie “Kinsey.” In the process of watching this movie, I had different reactions when some scenes were presented. First of all, in the movie it showed that Kinsey’s father who was the preacher of a church was close minded about the topic of sex. However, I felt that this movie generalized that all pastors or preachers are close minded to talk about topics that refer to sex. In my experience, my pastor is very open to talk about sex, he would teach teenagers about what sex is about and he would talk to couple about that topic openly. However, it is true that keeping teenagers from sexual encounters before marriage is one of the goals preachers have.
James Harrison, who was a scientist, doctor, and society, started coming up with the resolution that there are some ways of treating the abnormality. Scientists and doctors started to conduct various kinds of abhorrence and aggressive therapies. It was implied that doctors even tried to castrate, but in conclusion none of the experiments were seem to be able to transmute sexual orientation of the people involved. The report by Alfred Kinsey in 1948, in his book “Being Homosexual”, was commented by Richard Isay, verbalizing that Kinsey and his co-workers for many years tried to find patients who had been indoctrinated from homosexuality to heterosexuality during many therapies. Inadvertently for them none of the cases gave an expected result. With these words he acknowledged that the statement that medicine is not the answer, which in its turn supports that homosexuality is not a mental condition, but genitival feature as many other above mentioned facts claim. Later on Hooper and Bruno Klopfer were performing and confirming tests to determine who would be homosexual. They notionally theorized that they would be able to differentiate homosexuals from heterosexuals by denotes of the Rorschach test. But as it turned out none of the test they were designing could genuinely reach the needed effect. The heterosexuals and homosexuals were interchangeable, demonstrating an
One of the earliest proposed definitions of asexuality came from the famed Alfred Kinsey in 1948, who called it “a lack of sexual behavior associated with a lack of sexual response to erotic stimuli” (Houdenhove, “Asexuality” 1). Later re-definitions include “a lack of sexual behavior associated with a lack of sexual desire” in 1977, “a lack of sexual orientation” in 1980, “a lack of sexual behavior” in 1993, and “a lack of sexual desire or excitement” in 2007 (Houdenhove, “Asexuality” 1; Yule 1). It was not until 2016 that researchers recommending using the definition that asexuals had been using to define themselves (which had also undergone some modifications), describing asexuality as “a lack of sexual attraction” (Houdenhove, “Asexuality” 1). It is interesting to note that all of these definitions define asexuality as “a lack of ______”, as it implies that there is something that asexuals are missing and that they are not complete, but the currently used definition at least describes the phenomenon in a way that is satisfactory to almost all who discuss asexuality.