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 FEATURE STORY |
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Let's talk about Sex: The life and Work of Dr. Alfred Kinsey
 Does anyone remember when sex became as common a talking point as the weather? Fifty years ago no one even spoke about sex in public, but these days we are practically force-fed sex on a daily basis. Now it seems everyone is a self-proclaimed sex expert, with the media and entertainment industry as the ringleaders.
By the new millennium even young teens didn’t flinch as they talked about their harrowing sexual escapades on Jerry Springer or as they mimicked, dare I say, icons like Britney Spears. No, these days it seems nothing is shocking. But it wasn’t always that way.
How is it that our culture went from a buttoned down, patriarchal, chaste and modest society in the 40s to the loose lipped, scantily clad, sexually aggressive, “thong song” loving bunch we’ve become today?
Did we as a culture have it coming? Was a society that was so oppressive regarding sexual preferences, premarital sex, and any public discussion of sex destined to cut loose eventually?
I’ll bet Dr. Alfred Kinsey and his staff couldn’t imagine the floodgates their research would open. After interviewing over 18,000 people about their sexual lives, and publishing Sexual Behavior in the Human Male in 1948 and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female in 1953, it’s safe to say the wheels of what we now call the Sexual Revolution were in motion.
Interestingly enough, Dr. Kinsey was actually the Professor of Zoology at Indiana University when he first became interested in the study of human sexuality. He was asked to coordinate a course for students who were married or contemplating marriage in 1938. During his teaching, he was constantly confronted with questions about sex from his pupils. He quickly learned that there wasn’t much research on sex or human sexuality at all. And so his pilgrimage began.
 By the time his first book was published, Dr. Kinsey and his staff had interviewed 12,000 people including 6,300 women and 5,300 men. At the time, this research was forty times the material that had even been comprised and combined on the subject.
More specifically, the people interviewed in Dr. Kinsey’s study represented every state in the continental U.S., ages 3-90 of every background including varying education levels, rural and urban residents, married, unmarried and divorced individuals, and from people with all levels of sexual experience.
While Dr. Kinsey said “We are the recorders and reporters of facts- not the judges of the behaviors we describe”, he and his staff were the targets of severe opposition. And with such controversial findings, the reaction was not surprising.
Some of Dr. Kinsey’s most alarming facts to the people in the 40s and 50s included those regarding homosexuality. Kinsey reported that 37% of males and 13% of females had reached orgasm at least once with a partner of the same sex. Other facts that caused quite a stir were findings on masturbation, oral sex, premarital sex and sadomasochism. The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University continues to investigate sexual behavior and health today.
History shows that time and time again anything newly introduced to a culture will probably be seriously criticized, protested and even rejected altogether. But that hasn’t stopped the trailblazers of history which is why we as a people continue to evolve. So here is the real question; can we really consider the state of human sexuality and the freeness in which we speak about it today evolution?
 I suppose it all comes down to opinion. If you ask me, a self proclaimed liberal and feminist, I say yes. I think sex is a critical part of life. It is necessary to procreate, obviously, but sex is also a natural instinct. It is part of our being and acknowledging our sexuality should not be denied. Dr. Kinsey helped people learn about themselves by talking and asking questions. This is the only real way a society can evolve. Only when we are allowed to question can we understand and ultimately, grow.
Though many exploit sexuality for personal gain or profit today, it does not change the fact that sexuality and sexual desire was and will always be a part of every human being. Evolution is defined as a gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form. Dr. Kinsey set out to learn and report the facts free from any personal or religious agenda. How we deal with sex in the future depends on how the general population chooses to view it. Our self imposed belief systems determine our actions and reactions to sex in our culture and in our own lives. The best we can hope for is that our culture continues to allow people to experience sex and express their sexuality in their own way.
by Gianina Gauci
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