The Kinsey Institute

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 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). 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.