Important Dates in Human Sexuality

Published The Origin of Species.
Affected how sexuality was viewed.
Westerners believed their sexuality indicated they were more evolved.
Missionary Myth:
- Missionaries reported that societies in "third world countries" were more promiscuous.
- Missionaries aimed to help these societies become more evolved sexually.
- Led to the term "missionary position".

German neurologist and psychiatrist.
Published Psychopathia Sexualis.
Portrayed various forms of sexual behavior and arousal as disgusting and pathological.
Four categories of sexual deviations:
- Sadism: Deriving sexual pleasure from inflicting pain or humiliation on others.
- Masochism: Deriving sexual pleasure from having pain or humiliation inflicted upon oneself.
- Fetishism: Sexual arousal derived from engaging with objects or parts of the body not typically associated with sex (e.g., shoe fetish).
- Homosexuality.
Claimed masturbation was the cause of all these deviations.

Published Studies in the Psychology of Sex.
Played a major role in changing attitudes towards sex at the end of the Victorian era.
Suggested sex may actually be normal.
Victorian Era:
- Time of prudishness regarding sex, associated with Queen Victoria (19th century).
- Women wore dresses covering from chin to floor.
- Tablecloths reached the floor to cover table legs and prevent sexual arousal.
Ellis's views were radical for the time.
Stated masturbation was a common practice in males and females of all ages.
Proposed that sexual orientation exists on a continuum, not as absolutes.

Wrote Three Essays on Sexuality.
Shift in thinking: Sex is not only normal but is central to personality development.
Freud's ideas were not well-received at the time.

Coined the term "sexual science".
Shift from viewing sex as pathological to viewing it as a subject worthy of scientific discovery.

Played a significant role in birth control access for Americans.
Opened the first birth control clinic and was arrested.
Considered a pornographer for mailing information about birth control due to Comstock laws.
Controversial figure:
- Celebrated for fighting for women's access to birth control and seen as the founder of Planned Parenthood.
- Controversial due to her alignment with the eugenics movement, aiming to limit who could reproduce.
- Sanger wanted to ensure people could limit their reproduction if they chose to.

Published 1,000 Marriages.
Found that women can enjoy sex too.
Based findings on 5,200 case studies of women from his gynecological practice in New York City.
A move away from pathologizing sex.

Considered the "godfather of research in human sexuality".
The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University is named after him.
Kinsey was a biologist asked to teach a course in sexuality and marriage; found little reliable information.
1948: Published The Sexual Behavior of the Human Male.
Extraordinary because people answered questions on private aspects of their lives.
The Kinsey study involved a carefully determined interview.
A contingency plan existed to destroy data if the government seized it.
Sample bias: 5,300 white men, overrepresented younger urban Protestants who were highly educated.
Nevertheless, the sample had a wide age range, and at least 50 people came from each of the 48 states at the time.