unit 8 lesson 3 - alfred kinsey, homosexuality, and gay rights

alfred kinsey

* sexologist in the 1950s
* seen as the father of the modern sexual revolution in the late 1960s
* became a professor of sexology
* in 1947, founded the institute for sex research

kinsey’s books on sexologists

* 1948: sexual behaviour in the human male
* 1953: sexual behaviour in the human female
* seen as the “kinsey reports”

kinsey’s sexuality

* declared himself bisexual
* was in an open marriage

his work on sexuality

* promoted candid, explicit discussion of sex
* demonstrated that americans were commonly having sexual activity outside the bounds of marriage
* also outside of the missionary position
* research methods were controversial

research methods

* would observe and participate in sex with research participants
* would encourage graduate assistants to participate
* reported on the orgasms of over 300 children from 5 months to 14 years
* came from adult-childhood memories or parents and teachers of these children
* distorted the size of the samples of research subjects
* interviewed and observed fewer subjects than reported

women’s sexual repression of the 1950s

* expected to remain virgins till marriage
* sexual double standard
* made honeymoons traumatic for many women
* sexually curious women were deemed “bad”
* reputation tarnished
* may be committed to an asylum or institution of her father or husband committed her there
* if she became pregnant, would be sent to a maternity home then give up baby for adoption
* expected to give up academic and career opportunities after marriage

homosexuality in the 1950s

* seen as deviant
* many men stayed bachelors or married, repressing urges and living double lives
* kinsey and sexologists discussed homosexuality as a **widespread social phenomenon,** rather than a pathological problem
* undercover literature began to represent gays and lesbians
* predominant literature was medical textbooks representing it as a mental illness

mccarthy hearings

* located homosexuals and tried to have them expelled from civil service and military
* seen as a threat to national security

stonewall riots

* june 28th, 1969
* start of the gay rights movement in NA
* stonewall inn
* mafia-owned, rundown bar
* police raids of gay bars were frequent
* crossdressed men would be arrested

multiple demonstrations

* went from 200 to 600 people
* threw garbage cans, bricks, trash
* lit paper on fire and threw it into the stonewall riot

june 28th, 1970

* first anniversary of the stonewall riots
* first gay pride march in US history