What Kinsey Really Said: An Ongoing Series

Criticisms From the Heritage Foundation

Melissa Pardue of The Heritage Foundation wrote "The Kinsey Whitewash," published on the group's website on February 9, 2005

Kinsey, trained as a scientist in the field of zoology, is often credited as the first researcher to use science to address sexual behavior. But Kinsey's goal was to radically redefine what was considered normal and abnormal behavior. He succeeded in many respects - in large measure, ironically enough, because of his blatant disregard for scientific principles.1

It's true that Kinsey's Doctorate in Science from Harvard University was in the field of zoology. But his work also specialized in taxonomy. Zoology doesn't travel particularly well over into sexology; taxonomy certainly does, and it was taxonomy that formed the core scientific "technique"2 of his work in sexual behavior. Kinsey was also the author of several highly regarded textbooks on biology and field research.3 These extra facts don't prove that Pardue's solitary reference to zoology means she's wrong about zoology. But they certainly need to be stated by anyone who is going to address Kinsey's scientific qualifications.

If there is one concept that can most accurately be described as his "goal" it is the concept of "variation." Starting with gall wasps, Kinsey maintained that it would be impossible, given factual research, to say that this wasp has a "normal" wing length, or that one an "abnormal" head diameter. This naturally carried over into his other studies, including sex. But it would be incorrect to maintain, as Pardue appears to do, that he started, not with variation, but with the prime purpose of redefining "normal" and "abnormal" sexuality, since both words were those he argued against. read more about criticisms of Kinsey by Melissa Pardue of The Heritage Foundation



Examining Judith Reisman's Claims About Sexology and Kinsey: 6

Supporters for Reisman's Claim Kinsey Originated Sexology

In the previous section we showed how Reisman's claims of expertise about Alfred Kinsey collapsed over her incredible ignorance of sexology, quoting her multiple statements that Kinsey originated the field.

Reisman isn't alone pushing that myth. There's a considerable body of other Republican/Conservative forces who bolster Reisman's claims of expertise, and so push her view that sexology originated with Kinsey. read Reisman supporters statements on Kinsey and the origins of sexology



Brief Notes On Kinsey Topics In the News

We've upgraded our critique of anti-Kinsey material from Melissa Pardue and The Heritage Foundation. 11/10/11

We've just added a cumulative site-wide page for bibliographical information

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We're in the process of upgrading our "articles" index page with brief descriptions of content. 11/05/11

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In the course of editing our html code we've made minor changes (spelling, etc.) to several articles.

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The Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University has just released their National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior. They interviewed 5,865 people from ages 14-94; about 800 were under 18.

80% of boys reporting using condoms the last time they engaged in intercourse. Counter to popular views African-American and Hispanic-American youth were more likely to use condoms than white teenagers.

Even more, the study showed that while roughly 70% of young males and females regularly use condoms, they were used by less than half of older people engaged in casual relationships


Texe Marrs Attacks Satan and Sex (and Kinsey too)

Texe Marrs, over at wordpress's Trust Christ Or Go to Hell blog has written the latest in the ongoing attacks on Alfred Kinsey, his research, and, by extension, everything else under the sun and earth the anti-Kinsey forces claims Kinsey was responsible for.

Imagine an elite group of evil child molesters meeting privately in an undisclosed location. Imagine, too, these wicked sexual predators making plans to conduct grotesque, real-life experiments on innocent little boys and girls. In these experiments, the children will be systematically raped, sodomized, and physically violated. Detailed records will be kept of the children’s reactions so that pedophiles worldwide can 'enjoy' seeing the results.
        Texe Marrs
        Satanism, Sex Crimes, and Consequences

Let's interrupt the imagination for a moment. Let's note the fact that the imaginary images are pushed by Marrs. Let's also note that the sexually-perverse character of the fantasy that Marrs wants people to imagine. Above all, let's remember the fact that the perverse sexual fantasies of the religious right are not facts. read more on Marrs's statement on Satan and sex


Examining Judith Reisman's Attacks On Kinsey: 5

This is what is elsewhere called the "AHA!" moment, also known as the "GOTTCHA!"

We think that Dr. Paul Gebhard, at the age of 94, makes a better proverbial "dirty olf man" than, say, somebody like Dr. Wilhem Stekel.

For most rational people the evidentary weight of these actions are quite light. Given enough interviews, enough videotape, and enough editings driven by an utter lack of ethics, every human being is vulnerable to this type of distortion.

How then can one proceed to accurately and honestly describing another's political views. The easiest is to make sure that whatever you claim they maintain you can document it repeatedly. In other words, one can show that they just didn't say it once, but half-a-dozen times. Show that they didn't write it repeatedly but only for a month but show they've maintained it over years. It's even better if you can show that supporters have also taken the position and attributed it to the person in question. read Reisman's statement on Kinsey and the origins of sexology


Examining Judith Reisman's Attacks On Kinsey: 4
          The ATAH Radio Interview

There's a new piece by Dr. Judith Reisman making its way around the Internet. It's a multi-part multi-hour interview with her by a group called Americans For Truth About Homosexuality.

Dr. Reisman is billed by her boosters as the world's leading scientific expert on Alfred Kinsey and his work. Dr. Reisman denounces her critics for dismissing her academic credentials by claiming they date back to the Captain Kangaroo Show from the early days of children's television. Dr. Reisman's specific degree is in communications and she made heavy use of her Kangaroo experiences in her research. read more on Reisman's credentials in sexology


Jim O'Neill and False Credentialling
          When it comes to Sex and Science the Right Still Gets It Wrong.
          Part 2

George Orwell is the far right's favorite leftwinger. When you see an essay start with an Orwell quote chances are it comes from the right side of the political spectrum. Some begin with Orwell's "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." You can give good odds and still make money betting that those sites are from the far right.

So it is with Jim O'Neill's "The Homosexual Agenda and the U.S. Military" at the gulagbound blog. read more on O'Neill's false credentialing


Pre-Kinsey Giant Interview Populations
          Kinsey: an effect, not cause, of sexual changes: 2

There's a core fallacy where people see Kinsey's work, see the "Sexual Revolution" occurring afterward, and attribute all the changes in sexual behavior to him.

Looking at the real history we find that many changes perceived to occur after Kinsey were in reality coterminous with Kinsey and his research. Put another way, Kinsey was one of the people enmeshed in the social changes occurring in the United States during the 1930s and 40s, and not the core cause of the results that those changes later produced.

One methodology in scientific research involves the use of huge interview populations as a source of data that, in turn, leads to challenge earlier conclusions, many shown to be based not on science but on a particular form of antihedonic bias.

One such study, occurring before the publication of Sexual Behavior In the Human Male, was performed by Walter Bromberg. read more on giant interview populations in pre-Kinsey sex research


When it comes to Sex and Science the Right Still Gets It Wrong

We're used to being damned if we do and damned if we don't about pretty much every damn thing we do, by the anti-sex crowd. So being blasted for being anti-scientific by Christian fundamentalists is par for the curse.

The part of life where the self-proclaimed secularist tough-mindedness about science is perhaps most overblown is with regard to sex. Since Kinsey wrote his famed study (something much covered in this publication), the American secular left has been astonishingly credulous about the desirability of laissez-faire sex. Their basic stance can be summed up by the Bloodhound Gang’s thoughtful and well-considered lyric, "Baby, you and me ain’t nothing but mammals, so let’s do it like they do on the Discovery Channel." This bit of verse, of course, was an elaboration of the important musico-sexual treatise of George Michael (a role model for rational, healthy sexuality): "Sex is natural. Sex is good. Not everybody does it, but everybody should." [Hunter Baker, "When It Comes to Sex, the Left Hates Science (2010)," OrthodoxyToday.org: Commentary on Social and Moral Issues of the Day

We thought for a moment and to our surprise initially came up with nothing more than "Well, yes. Laissez-faire sex is something we like" but not in the way that Baker maintained. We have an overall approach to a laissez-faire view on most aspects of private life and personal life in general. Religious belief? No government interference. Free speech? No government interference. Free ... well we'll skip over the rest of the extensive list with the recognition that sex, as an issue, is pretty close to the end and we don't want a lot of government interference there either. read more on the Right getting it wrong


Alfred Kinsey: Wikipedia's brief biography

Alfred Charles Kinsey (June 23, 1894 - August 25, 1956) was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey scale. Kinsey's research on human sexuality, foundational to the modern field of sexology, provoked controversy in the 1940s and 1950s. His work has profoundly influenced social and cultural values in the United States and many other countries. ...

Kinsey is generally regarded as the father of sexology, the systematic, scientific study of human sexuality. He initially became interested in the different forms of sexual practices around 1933, after discussing the topic extensively with a colleague, Robert Kroc. It is likely that Kinsey's study of the variations in mating practices among gall wasps led him to wonder how widely varied sexual practices among humans were. During this work, he developed a scale measuring sexual orientation, now known as the Kinsey Scale which ranges from 0 to 6, where 0 is exclusively heterosexual and 6 is exclusively homosexual; a rating of X, for asexual, was added later by Kinsey's associates.

In 1935, Kinsey delivered a lecture to a faculty discussion group at Indiana University, his first public discussion of the topic, wherein he attacked the "widespread ignorance of sexual structure and physiology" and promoted his view that "delayed marriage" (that is, delayed sexual experience) was psychologically harmful. Kinsey obtained research funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, which enabled him to inquire into human sexual behavior. His Kinsey Reports -- starting with the publication of Sexual Behavior in the Human Male in 1948, followed in 1953 by Sexual Behavior in the Human Female -- reached the top of bestseller lists and turned Kinsey into an instant celebrity. Articles about him appeared in magazines such as Time, Life, Look, and McCall's. Kinsey's reports, which led to a storm of controversy, are regarded by many as an enabler of the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Indiana University's president Herman B Wells defended Kinsey's research in what became a well-known test of academic freedom. read more of Wikipedia's entry on Alfred Kinsey