The Science of Sex

Alfred Kinsey's, Ph.D., groundbreaking book
Sexual Behavior in the Human Femaleis celebrating
its fiftieth anniversary this year. Indiana University, which sponsored
the research, is planning a yearlong series of lectures, films and
exhibitions to explore women's heath and sexuality. The book, which
revolutionized the study of sexuality, records his research. He was the
first sexuality researcher to use the scientific method, rather than
anecdotes, to do research. Now, a half-century later, Kinsey's work is
still highly regarded, as a benchmark of sexuality research. It also gave
us a glimpse into the bedrooms of the 1950s.

"Kinsey is noted for really bringing sexuality into the open," says
Joanne Marrow, Ph.D., sex researcher and professor of psychology at
California State University at Sacramento. "His work was really the
turning point in American human sexuality."

While his work has been lauded, his findings raised many eyebrows
at the time. He found, for example, that half of all women at the time
had sex before marriage. Also, one in four married women committed
adultery, compared with half of all married men. Needless to say, his
studies caused significant uproar when the study was released. "People
considered him immoral," says Marrow.

"I think that [his] research has held up excellently," notes
Marrow. Admittedly, there were flaws in his data, such as a lack of
diversity in his subjects. Even so, his questions are still asked by
researchers. And his findings mark an era. Adds Marrow, "Kinsey's legacy:
is to tell us what sexual behavior was about at the time he collected his
research."

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