Difference between revisions of "The Kinsey Institute"

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(New page: The History of the Kinsey Institute The Kinsey Institute of Sex Research is arguably one of the first places dedicated towards sex. In a time where strict social constructs were created ab...)
 
 
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The History of the Kinsey Institute
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[[Image:Mors1.jpg|thumb|160px|upright|border|Morrison Hall. The Kinsey Institute occupies the third and fourth floors.]]The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction is one of the oldest research institutes in the United States concerned primarily with the scientific study of sexual behavior. The brainchild of Alfred Kinsey, the Institute was founded in 1947 and has been attracting attention ever since, ranging from the Catholic Church’s condemnation to Hollywood’s production of a major motion picture.
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The Kinsey Institute of Sex Research is arguably one of the first places dedicated towards sex. In a time where strict social constructs were created about sexuality, Alfred Kinsey persevered and still found a way to open the Institute for Sex Research. Alfred Kinsey was trained as a biologist and a psychologist and became a member of Indiana University’s biology faculty in the 1920s. Kinsey gained much popularity among his students and was known as the “sex doctor.” Because of the lack of scientific knowledge about sexual matters, Kinsey started interviewing students about sex in the hopes of gaining entomological data. Kinsey started interviewing a broader number of people across the United States, even interviewing new acquaintances. His sex research became his new project, and in 1947, the National Research Council began funding Kinsey’s collection and analysis of sex histories and formed the IU Institute for Sex Research. Through some funding, Kinsey was able to interview over 18,000 people over the span of his project, which closed in 1963. Between the years of 1947-1963, Kinsey wrote two major books, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1947) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). Both these volumes contained detailed sexual behavior of his interviewees, some of which was never talked about before and resulted in many different responses. From childhood masturbation to bestiality (the practice of sex between humans and animals), Kinsey covered a number of sexual behaviors he found common among the people he interviewed. Kinsey aimed to provide truthful volumes about human sexual behavior despite the conflict it had with society and the consequences that were to follow the production of both his books. As a result, the response Kinsey received about his research were both discouraging and encouraging. “Scientists and clergymen here were strongly divided today over the merits o f Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s survey of the sexual behavior of women. “Shocking,” “disgusting,” “distorted,” were some of the descriptions by clerics of the 800-page volume. “Necessary,” “enlightening” and “revealing” were others voiced by men in research fields allied to Kinsey’s” (Gilbert 1953).
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Despite the controversy that followed Kinsey and his research, Kinsey found much help from former president of IU Herman B. Wells to continue his research. Kinsey became a vital part of the homosexual revolution after revealing to the world how common homosexual behaviors are. Kinsey found that on the whole, homosexual child play in males occurs more frequently and more specific than pre-adolescent heterosexual play (Kinsey 1948, 168). Similarly, Kinsey reported that homosexual activities are engaged by about 60 per cent of pre-adolescent boys (Kinsey 1948, 610). Kinsey developed a scale commonly known as the “Kinsey Scale,” which described homosexuality and heterosexuality as a fluid spectrum. This scale refutes the belief that homosexuality and heterosexuality were both black and white—that is, the belief that one can be exclusively homosexual and heterosexual. This has allowed people to realize that though one identifies as heterosexual, homosexual thoughts, feelings, and actions are also normal to experience. Kinsey’s research has revolutionized the world’s view about homosexuality and many other topics related to deviant sexuality. As he persevered through the controversy of his research, Kinsey contributed to the new way people view homosexuality and human sexual behavior as a whole.
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Research conducted by biologist Alfred Kinsey at Indiana University in the 1940s and 1950s fundamentally altered the way modern Western societies think about sexuality. Most famously, Kinsey’s research suggested that everyone’s sexuality exists fluidly across a range or spectrum—and that behavior, not subjective identity, is the crucial criterion to study. Kinsey felt there was no such thing as a homosexual or a heterosexual “type” of person, only men and women who engaged, over the course of their lives and to varying degrees, in same-sex or opposite-sex behavior.
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Kinsey became a vital part of the mid-twentieth-century sexual revolution, and he helped set the stage for the gay liberation movement by revealing how common homosexual behaviors are.  According to his research, nearly 40 percent of men and a little less than 15 percent of women have had at least one homosexual experience in their lives. In changing the way the world thought about homosexuality and other aspects of human sexual diversity, Kinsey left an indeliable imprint on the city where he conducted his research. He contributed an important element to Bloomington’s reputation as a place where diverse expressions of gender and sexuality can be treated with respect.
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===Kinsey Scale===
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[[Image:kinsey scale.jpg|thumb|left|250px|upright|border|The Kinsey Scale]]
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Kinsey developed an eight-point scale for assigning a numerical value to the frequency of homosexual behavior relative to heterosexual behavior, with 0 representing exclusive life-long heterosexuality and 6 representing exclusive life-long homosexuality. A Kinsey Scale 3 signified a perfectly bisexual balance between homosexual and heterosexual experiences. A Kinsey Scale 1 meant primarily heterosexual behavior with only incidental homosexual behavior, while a Kinsey Scale 2 meant primarily heterosexual behavior with more-than-casual homosexual experience. Likewise, a Kinsey Scale 4 and 5 meant,  respectively, a preponderantly homosexual disposition with significant heterosexual experience, and a predominantly homosexual disposition with only incidental heterosexual experience. A final category, X, signified asexuality, or no sexual experience.  Kinsey himself scored somewhere between 2 and 4 on his own scale, and he experimented with BDSM and group sex. He maintained a committed and loving open marriage with his wife Clara, with whom he had four children, until they were parted by his death after 35 years together.
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===Kinsey Before the Institute===
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Alfred Kinsey graduated from Bowdoin College with B.S. degrees in biology and psychology. In 1919 he received a Sc.D. in biology from Harvard University, and joined Indiana University’s biology department in 1920, as an assistant professor of zoology. Kinsey was a popular instructor who earned the nickname “Dr. Sex” after the university asked him to teach a course on human sexuality for students who were married or considering marriage. Kinsey, whose academic specialty was gall wasps, quickly discovered that empirical research into actual human sexual activity was exceedingly rare. To remedy this lack of data, Kinsey began interviewing students about their sexual habits in the hopes of compiling information on this under-researched topic. He soon started interviewing a broader range of people across the United States. In 1940, human sex research became his primary project, and in 1947, the National Research Council began funding Kinsey’s collection and analysis of sex histories. That same year, Kinsey established the Indiana University Institute for Sex Research.
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===Kinsey’s Research===
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Through funding for the Institute, Kinsey began compiling the information he [[Image:Kinsey1.jpg|thumb|200px|upright|border|Alfred Kinsey]]subsequently published in two major books, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' (1947) and ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' (1953). By the time the research project ended in 1963, after Kinsey’s death, he and his research team had interviewed more than 18,000 people—the largest empirical study of sex practices ever undertaken. Kinsey’s major finding was a tremendous gap between what people said publicly about sex and what they actually did in private. At the time Kinsey published his volume on male sexuality, it was extremely rare to talk candidly about sexual practices, and unheard of to publically discuss many of the particular practices—ranging from bestiality to masturbation to wearing fetish clothing to engaging in homosexual behavior—whose surprisingly common occurrences he documented.  
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===Controversy===
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Kinsey sought to provide scientifically accurate information about human sexual behavior despite the conflict between his data and conventional sexual morality. As a result, his research drew condemnation as well as praise. Clerics and clergymen denounced Kinsey’s findings as “shocking,” “disgusting,” and “distorted,” while scientists called them “necessary,” “enlightening” and “revealing.” (Gilbert 1953). In 1954, after publication of the volume on female sexuality, a conservative member of the U.S. House of Representatives, B. Carroll Reece of Tennessee, formed a special congressional committee to investigate Kinsey’s financial backers, which included the Rockefeller Foundation and other prominent philanthropies. Under immense political pressure from the McCarthyite right, many of Kinsey’s funders withdrew their support. Postal inspectors began investigating criminal charges against Kinsey for receiving pornographic materials—that is, the research items sent to him by sexuality scholars and scientists from around the world, which now form the core of the Kinsey Institute’s unparalleled archival collection documenting the history and practice of human sexuality. Indiana University president Herman B Wells stepped into the breach and put his considerable reputation on the line to secure the support of the Trustees, call off the postal inspectors, and to solicit new financial support from Indiana-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co.
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===Death===
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Kinsey died in 1956, at the age of 62, shortly after the controversy over his institute was resolved. He had a weak heart due to a serious childhood illness, but the stress of the conservative witch-hunt against him undoubtedly contributed to his relatively early demise.
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Bibliography
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Capshaw, James H. “Alma Pater: Herman B Wells and the Rise of Indiana University.” Indiana University. http://www.indiana.edu/~libarch/Wells/wellsbio.html.  
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“Facts about Kinsey, the film.” The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Inc. http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/Movie-facts.html
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Gilbert, Justin. “Clerics, Educators Comment on Report.” Mirror, (New York, N.Y.) Aug 20, 1953.
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Kinsey, Alfred C., Wardell B. Pomeroy, Clyde E. Martin. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1948.
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Kinsey. DVD. Directed by Bill Condon. 2004. Century City, CA: Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2004.
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“Origin of the Institute.” The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Inc. http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/origins.html.
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“Photo History.” The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Inc. http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/photo-tour.html.
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Reisman, Judith. “Kinsey and the Homosexual Revolution.” Leadership U. 13 July 2002. http://www.leaderu.com/jhs/reisman.html.
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“Response to Controversy.” The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Inc. http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/controversy.html.
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Schmalz,Valerie. “Alfred Kinsey: Father of Sexual Revolution.” Ignatius Insight. http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features/vschmalz_kinsey_nov04.asp.
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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'''Navigation''' | [[The Midwest's "Queer Mecca": 40 Years of GLBTQ History in Bloomington, Indiana (1969-2009) | '''Home''']] | [[BEFORE STONEWALL: WHAT MADE BLOOMINGTON A GAY OASIS? | '''Before Stonewall''']] | [[FROM STONEWALL TO THE AIDS EPIDEMIC: 1969-1981 | '''Stonewall to AIDS: the 70s''']] |
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[[AIDS, ACTIVISM, AND COMMUNITY VISIBILITY: 1981-1991 | '''AIDS and Community Life: the 80s''']] | [[QUEER BLOOMINGTON: 1992-2001 | '''The Queer Decade: the 90s''']] | [[QUEER HERE AND NOW: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE 21st CENTURY | '''Queer Here and Now: 2001-Present''']]
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</div>
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[[Category:Before Stonewall]][[Category:Indiana University]][[Category:Stryker]][[Category:Gay]][[Category:Lesbian]] <comments />

Latest revision as of 22:19, 30 April 2010

Morrison Hall. The Kinsey Institute occupies the third and fourth floors.

The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction is one of the oldest research institutes in the United States concerned primarily with the scientific study of sexual behavior. The brainchild of Alfred Kinsey, the Institute was founded in 1947 and has been attracting attention ever since, ranging from the Catholic Church’s condemnation to Hollywood’s production of a major motion picture.

Research conducted by biologist Alfred Kinsey at Indiana University in the 1940s and 1950s fundamentally altered the way modern Western societies think about sexuality. Most famously, Kinsey’s research suggested that everyone’s sexuality exists fluidly across a range or spectrum—and that behavior, not subjective identity, is the crucial criterion to study. Kinsey felt there was no such thing as a homosexual or a heterosexual “type” of person, only men and women who engaged, over the course of their lives and to varying degrees, in same-sex or opposite-sex behavior.

Kinsey became a vital part of the mid-twentieth-century sexual revolution, and he helped set the stage for the gay liberation movement by revealing how common homosexual behaviors are. According to his research, nearly 40 percent of men and a little less than 15 percent of women have had at least one homosexual experience in their lives. In changing the way the world thought about homosexuality and other aspects of human sexual diversity, Kinsey left an indeliable imprint on the city where he conducted his research. He contributed an important element to Bloomington’s reputation as a place where diverse expressions of gender and sexuality can be treated with respect.

Kinsey Scale

The Kinsey Scale

Kinsey developed an eight-point scale for assigning a numerical value to the frequency of homosexual behavior relative to heterosexual behavior, with 0 representing exclusive life-long heterosexuality and 6 representing exclusive life-long homosexuality. A Kinsey Scale 3 signified a perfectly bisexual balance between homosexual and heterosexual experiences. A Kinsey Scale 1 meant primarily heterosexual behavior with only incidental homosexual behavior, while a Kinsey Scale 2 meant primarily heterosexual behavior with more-than-casual homosexual experience. Likewise, a Kinsey Scale 4 and 5 meant, respectively, a preponderantly homosexual disposition with significant heterosexual experience, and a predominantly homosexual disposition with only incidental heterosexual experience. A final category, X, signified asexuality, or no sexual experience. Kinsey himself scored somewhere between 2 and 4 on his own scale, and he experimented with BDSM and group sex. He maintained a committed and loving open marriage with his wife Clara, with whom he had four children, until they were parted by his death after 35 years together.


Kinsey Before the Institute

Alfred Kinsey graduated from Bowdoin College with B.S. degrees in biology and psychology. In 1919 he received a Sc.D. in biology from Harvard University, and joined Indiana University’s biology department in 1920, as an assistant professor of zoology. Kinsey was a popular instructor who earned the nickname “Dr. Sex” after the university asked him to teach a course on human sexuality for students who were married or considering marriage. Kinsey, whose academic specialty was gall wasps, quickly discovered that empirical research into actual human sexual activity was exceedingly rare. To remedy this lack of data, Kinsey began interviewing students about their sexual habits in the hopes of compiling information on this under-researched topic. He soon started interviewing a broader range of people across the United States. In 1940, human sex research became his primary project, and in 1947, the National Research Council began funding Kinsey’s collection and analysis of sex histories. That same year, Kinsey established the Indiana University Institute for Sex Research.

Kinsey’s Research

Through funding for the Institute, Kinsey began compiling the information he

Alfred Kinsey

subsequently published in two major books, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1947) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). By the time the research project ended in 1963, after Kinsey’s death, he and his research team had interviewed more than 18,000 people—the largest empirical study of sex practices ever undertaken. Kinsey’s major finding was a tremendous gap between what people said publicly about sex and what they actually did in private. At the time Kinsey published his volume on male sexuality, it was extremely rare to talk candidly about sexual practices, and unheard of to publically discuss many of the particular practices—ranging from bestiality to masturbation to wearing fetish clothing to engaging in homosexual behavior—whose surprisingly common occurrences he documented.

Controversy

Kinsey sought to provide scientifically accurate information about human sexual behavior despite the conflict between his data and conventional sexual morality. As a result, his research drew condemnation as well as praise. Clerics and clergymen denounced Kinsey’s findings as “shocking,” “disgusting,” and “distorted,” while scientists called them “necessary,” “enlightening” and “revealing.” (Gilbert 1953). In 1954, after publication of the volume on female sexuality, a conservative member of the U.S. House of Representatives, B. Carroll Reece of Tennessee, formed a special congressional committee to investigate Kinsey’s financial backers, which included the Rockefeller Foundation and other prominent philanthropies. Under immense political pressure from the McCarthyite right, many of Kinsey’s funders withdrew their support. Postal inspectors began investigating criminal charges against Kinsey for receiving pornographic materials—that is, the research items sent to him by sexuality scholars and scientists from around the world, which now form the core of the Kinsey Institute’s unparalleled archival collection documenting the history and practice of human sexuality. Indiana University president Herman B Wells stepped into the breach and put his considerable reputation on the line to secure the support of the Trustees, call off the postal inspectors, and to solicit new financial support from Indiana-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co.

Death

Kinsey died in 1956, at the age of 62, shortly after the controversy over his institute was resolved. He had a weak heart due to a serious childhood illness, but the stress of the conservative witch-hunt against him undoubtedly contributed to his relatively early demise.


Bibliography

Capshaw, James H. “Alma Pater: Herman B Wells and the Rise of Indiana University.” Indiana University. http://www.indiana.edu/~libarch/Wells/wellsbio.html.

“Facts about Kinsey, the film.” The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Inc. http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/Movie-facts.html

Gilbert, Justin. “Clerics, Educators Comment on Report.” Mirror, (New York, N.Y.) Aug 20, 1953.

Kinsey, Alfred C., Wardell B. Pomeroy, Clyde E. Martin. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1948.

Kinsey. DVD. Directed by Bill Condon. 2004. Century City, CA: Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2004.

“Origin of the Institute.” The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Inc. http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/origins.html.

“Photo History.” The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Inc. http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/photo-tour.html.

Reisman, Judith. “Kinsey and the Homosexual Revolution.” Leadership U. 13 July 2002. http://www.leaderu.com/jhs/reisman.html.

“Response to Controversy.” The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Inc. http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/controversy.html.

Schmalz,Valerie. “Alfred Kinsey: Father of Sexual Revolution.” Ignatius Insight. http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features/vschmalz_kinsey_nov04.asp.


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