Fang-fu Ruan[1]

 

Sexology: A Developing Field of Study

Historical Perspectives and New Directions

 

Abstract

This paper presents the author’s overview of categories of the field of sexology, taking both its history and its new directions into account. The author postulates four major divisions of the field - ancient sexology, folk sexology, religious sexology, and scientific sexology; ten categories of sexology; four areas of sexological research (called “worlds”), i.e. the real world, the internet world, the film world, and the fantasy world, plus several branches of sexology currently under development.

 

Key words: classification of sexology, psychology of sexuality, erotology, sexology of movies

 

Introduction: The range of sexology

 

The concept of “sexology” (Sexualwissenschaft) as a scientific enterprise in its own right was developed by Iwan Bloch in 1906 in Germany.

 

Bloch (1872-1922), a dermatologist of great erudition, conceived of sexology as an interdisciplinary, very diverse field of research. Following an earlier initiative of the Italian physician and anthropologist Paolo Mantegazza (1831-1910), Bloch wanted to combine the natural and cultural sciences in the study of human sexuality, and therefore demanded the inclusion of many different disciplines, such as anthropology, ethnology, literature, history, and sociology with their various concepts and methods.  

 

Indeed, today a great number of disciplines are considered part of the field of sexology.  These include, for example, the anatomy and physiology of sex, the sociology of sex, the politics of sex, the history of sex, the ethics of sex, the philosophy of sex, the anthropology of sex, the literature of sex, and the visual arts of sex. [2]

 

The divisions of sexology

 

Many books have been written about human sexuality for both academic and lay readers In China sexology was banned for a long time, but since the 1980s when Jieping Wu and  Fang-fu Ruan contributed to lifting the ban, more than 3000 Chinese books on sex have been published.  These include many works from classical times as well as Chinese translations of noted writings by the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the American sex researchers Alfred C. Kinsey, William Masters and Virginia Johnson, and many others.  

 

Needless to say, the many books related to sex and sexuality differ a great deal in their subject matter and their approach. They can roughly be divided into 4 different categories:

 

1. Ancient sexology:

Writings about sex from early, pre-scientific historical periods, i.e. pre-sexology, pre-modern sexology, pre-scientific sexology, or primitive sexology.

 

2. Folk sexology: 

Sexual folklore characteristic of a people, nation, or region. 

 

3. Religious sexology:

Writings about sex based on a religion or religious sect.

 

4. Scientific sexology:

Modern sexology: Scientific and scholarly works written after 1886 when the Austrian psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902) published his Psychopathia sexualis[3].  Many scholars consider this the beginning of “sexology” in the modern sense, although a comprehensive concept of "Sexualwissenschaft" (sexology) was developed only years later by the Berlin physician Iwan Bloch. In his book The Sexual Life of Our Time (1906), he demanded the establishment of sexology as an interdisciplinary scientific enterprise in its own right.

 

Scientific sexology, or science-based sexology, can be divided into two subdivisions:

 

1.    Theoretical sexology
This includes all kinds of academic studies of sexuality.

 

2.    Practical sexology
This includes all kinds of practical guides, “marriage manuals”, “how to” books etc. with practical instructions.  Many such books are commercially very successful.

 

The classification of sexological topics

 

A  classification of sexology is a scientific method of identifying the nature of books dealing with human sexuality.  In 2006, the author devised a classification table of sexological books and gave each category an ID number as shown in the following table: [4]

 

Number	Category
sex000	Sexuality in General
sex100	Philosophy & Ethics of Sexuality
sex200	Sexuality & Mythology & Religion
sex300	Biology & Medicine of Sexuality
sex400	Sexual Psychology & Behaviorology
sex500	Sociology & Anthropology of Sexuality
sex600	Sex Research, Surveys, and Sex Education
sex700	Sexual Industry and Economics
sex800	History and Culture of Sexuality
sex900	Sexual Language, Literature & Arts, and Erotology

 

Chiung Fen Lin, one of my students at The Shu-Te University Graduate School of Human Sexuality, Taiwan, has proposed a detailed bibliographical classification table of books on the topic of sexology with subcategories, in her Master Degree thesis.

 

The four basic research worlds of sexology

 

Research on sex has been conducted in four different areas (called “worlds” in this paper).  This research is either objective or based on subjective experience.  The four worlds are:

 

1. The real world 

This includes the real sexual activities of real people - the only sex research “world” before the movies and the internet (ca. 100 years ago). 

 

2. The movie world 

This deals with human sexuality as shown in movies. In the past century, more than 200,000 movies been made, depicting many forms of sexual expression that can now be studied. There is a growing number of articles and books on this topic, some of them written from a clinical perspective This can be a new field of scientific investigation. It can be called “the sexology of movies”, “the sexological study of movies”, or “sexual aspects of film studies”.

 

3. The virtual world

This concerns the world of the internet, or the “www world” of sex/sexuality studies.  This field is only about 15 years old, yet there is no doubt that a large amount of material related to sex and sexuality exists in the internet;

 

4. The fantasy world

This refers to the sexuality of imagination. Sexual fantasies have acquired their own reality as a special kind of sexual activity. Research has shown that sexual fantasy alone can result in orgasm. Many compilations of sexual fantasy have been presented in books, starting decades ago (Nancy Friday 1973). In addition, the content of sexual fantasies is so unlimited, that studying them can be a special field of sex research.

 

Some new sexological branches to be developed

 

1. The psychology of sex

The works of the British sexologist Havelock Ellis (1858 – 1939), especially his Psychology of Sex (1933), were once considered representative of the sexological branch of psychology. Actually, Havelock Ellis’ great work was an introduction to human sexuality in general. It did not offer any specific concept of the psychology of sex. All concepts found in the book were already well known in general psychology, abnormal psychology, psychiatry, and other related academic branches. There never were any special psychologists of sex. That is why the American Psychological Association, very correctly did not list the psychology of sex among its over 50 branches.  Also, in several noted English or Chinese dictionaries of sexology or of psychology there are no entries specifically called the “psychology of sex” (or “sexual psychology”). However, it is very important to study the psychological aspects of human sexuality. This means that an independent new special branch of psychology of sex has to be created in the future. The author hopes that some special concepts and studies of sexual psychology will be developed soon, and that the scientific branch of sexual psychology will be established in the 21^st century.

 

2. Sexology of movies (Studies of sexuality in films)

 Sexual behaviors and lifestyles shown in movies may reflect real life, or be different in that they depict a fantasy world.  In either case, sexual behaviors and lifestyles expressed in movies and other visual media are so varied and rich, that they open up a huge new field of study. Many articles and books on sex in movies have already been published, and much more will be published in the future.

 

3. Erotology

The study of erotology has emerged as a subfield within sexology.  Forberg’s “Manual of Classical Erotology “(shown below) was published in 1884.

 

 

In 1991, the American Board of Sexology, in An Outline of Sexology referred to erotology as a formal part of cultural sexology, with its broad contents divided into 8 categories:

 

EROTOLOGY has been defined as the practical study of lovemaking, including the study of all cultural expressions of sexuality.

(1). Sexual imagery in fine art (erotic art).

(2). Sexuality in literature.

(3). “Marriage manuals”, sexual enhancement guides

     -. Heterosexual guides.

     -. Homosexual guides

     -. Autoerotic guides

(4) Pornography, obscenity, and erotic articles.

(5). Sex information/entertainment periodicals and enterprises.

(6). Sex in the popular media

     -. Newspapers and magazines.

     -. Film and video.

     -. Television.

     -  Internet

(7). Sex in advertising and industry.

(8). Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll

 

The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in the 1990s established a certificate/degree program in erotology.  Recently, on August 2, 2008, the Erotic Heritage Museum opened in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States. The museum aims to present the vast array of socio-cultural perspectives depicting our erotic heritage, including a special emphasis on the unfolding of the American Sexual Revolution of the 20th Century. A considerable number of such museums exist in other cities and other countries, including China (The China Sex Museum, Tongli). All of this will help in developing the field of erotology in the future.

 

4. Sexual behaviorology
“Sexual behavior” is a central concept in sexology. The expression is very common in papers and books - as a title or headline of a chapter and in the text -, but, so far, sexual behavior as an independent academic branch of sexology has not really been established. The German sexologist Erwin J. Haeberle has chosen “Human Sexual Behavior” as the title of course 6 of his online Curriculum in Sexual Health in 2007. (The curriculum is part of his Archive for Sexology - the world’s largest web site on human sexuality.) The course itself can be seen as the first textbook of sexual behavior as a specific academic branch.  For this, the new term “sexual behaviorology” may be used to indicate the systematic research of sexual behavior in both its theoretical and practical aspects. Other terms may be “science of sexual behavior”, “studies of sexual behavior”, or “sexual praxiology”. The word “praxiology” (also “praxeology, from Greek “praxis”= “goal directed action” and “logos”= “reason, plan”) was first used in economics to indicate the science of human behavior, action, or conduct. One can, of course, also speak of “beaviorology” (adding the ending“-ology” to the noun “behavior”. ) Actually the author taught a first, special, independent Master’s and doctoral course “sexual behaviorology” at the Shu-Te University Graduate School of Human Sexuality, Taiwan in 2007 and 2009.)

 

The research and teaching of “sexual behaviorology” can be a link between the two fields of theoretical and practical sexology, and it will have to be a core course in the higher education of sexologists.

 

Conclusion

 

Sexology is a developing field. Not only do the developed branches of sexology still need more studies, especially of its practical aspects, but also several new branches have to be established and developed. A richer and more practical sexology will serve the entire human race.

 

 

REFERENCES: 

 

Friday, Nancy (1973). My secret garden.  New York: Pocket Books.

 

Henkel, Laura (2005). The concept and significance of erotology - A speech at the “Sex Bar” in Shenzhen, China.

Kuriansky, J., Ortman, J, DelBuono, J. & Vallarelli, A. (2009). Cinematherapy: Using Movie Metaphors to Explore Real Relationships in Counseling.  In Gregerson, M. (Ed.). Films as Metaphors: Happily Ever After. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media.

 

Haeberle, Erwin J.: Archive for Sexology http://www.sexarchive.info/ Course 6. „Human Sexual Behavior“ http://www.sexarchive.info/ECE6/index.html