Kinsey And the Research of Sexuality

Read when and how the research of sexuality started and who was Alfred Kinsey, one of the beginners of sexology.

Sexology is the systematic study of human sexuality. It encompasses all aspects of sexuality.

Sexuality before Kinsey's research

Sexuality was considered a taboo for a really long time. This was especially true in the Western world in the last few centuries. The 'exotic nations' (called so by the Western world) had a different attitude to it. We are all familiar with the Indian Kama Sutra and the Ananga Ranga, but these books do not treat sexuality as a science or in terms of medicine.

One of the first sexologists was Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing, who published a book on sexual anomalies in 1886. At the start of the twentieth century Freud published his theories about sex, but more about this some other time. Magnus Hirschfeld established the Institut fur Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for sexuality) in Berlin in 1919, but the Nazis destroyed it in 1933.

Kinsey's research of sexuality 

The first breakthrough was achieved by biologists, who discovered the estrogen and testosterone hormones in the 1930s. In 1984 biologist Alfred Kinsey from the University of Indiana presented the first research about human sexuality in his work Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, followed by Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. You can imagine the controversy these books caused in those days. Kinsey talked about subjects considered a taboo until then. Masturbation, homosexuality and orgasm were the themes covered by Kinsey in his books. He also claimed that there are different levels of heterosexuality and for this purpose he created the famous Kinsey heterosexuality scale. Ever since his books were released, these themes have been discussed, talked about and scientifically researched.  

Research of sexuality after Kinsey

Kinsey presented sex as a science. Many doctors, psychologists and gynecologists followed. In 1966 gynecologist William Masters and psychologist Virginia Johnson first described the cycle of sexual response. This cycle explains the body's reactions to sexual stimuli. The findings of the research were based on 382 women and 312 men, who combined went through ten thousand such cycles. This was the first research to include so many people and it touched upon human intimacy.

The beginnings were hard, but due to people like Kinsey, Freud, Masters and Johnson we now have the possibility to speak freely about our sexuality. The technology in the field of sexuality is rapidly advancing. After Viagra, which was seen as revolutionary not so long ago, we might be in store for a male contraceptive pill. People are gradually beginning to understand that sexuality is healthy, normal and part of us all. Why do we find it so difficult to talk about it then?

You can learn more about sexual habits in our Lover's Guide.