Archive for Sexology
III. Modern Sex Research (1938 - )
1938 |
Alfred C. Kinsey, a zoologist at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, USA
begins his mostly sociological studies of human sexual behavior. |
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1945 -46 |
After many years of pioneering work for family planning in Scandinavia, the Swedisch social and sexual
reformer Elise Ottesen-Jensen
lays the groundwork for the founding of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).
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1947 |
Alfred C. Kinsey founds the "Institute for Sex Research"
(today called Kinsey Institute)
at Indiana University. |
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The Japanese researcher Shin'ichi Asayama begins his statistical surveys of
the sexual behavior of Japanese students. He repeats such surveys every
five years for over 30 years, eventually reaching a total of over 20.000
respondents.
In the USA penicillin (discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming) and other
antibiotica are, on a grand scale, used to cure sexually transmitted diseases. |
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1948 |
Alfred C. Kinsey and his collaborators Wardell B. Pomeroy and Clyde E.
Martin publish their first great study "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male". |
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In Bombay, the physician A. P. Pillay edits the "The International Journal of Sexology",
incorporating the older journal "Marriage and Hygiene", first issued in 1934. For several years,
Dr. Pillay's journal has no competition in the field. Among other things, in 1950 it publishes
Ernst Gräfenberg's
pathbreaking article on female ejaculation. |
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In London, the Australian-born gynecologist Norman Haire begins the
publication of "The Journal of Sex Education", a scientific journal for the
educated general public. Haire, a friend of Hirschfeld's and a former leader
in the World League for Sexual Reform, is also the founder and president of
a "Sex Education Society", which offers public lectures. |
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1949 |
Simone de Beauvoir publishes her historical and socio-cultural study "Le deuxième sexe" (The Second
Sex), which demands an end to the traditional discrimination against
women. It becomes an important literary milestone for a newly awakened
feminist movement. |
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1950
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In New York, the gynecologist Ernst Gräfenberg, who had escaped his
persecution by the Nazis in his hometown Berlin, again describes the
phenomenon of female ejaculation and calls attention to a female erogenous
zone in connection with the paraurethral glands - the so-called Gräfenberg spot (G-spot).
Hans Giese in Frankfurt/M. founds the "Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Sexualforschung" (German Society for Sex Research).
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1951
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Clellan S. Ford and Frank A. Beach publish their study "Patterns of Sexual
Behavior". The authors compare nearly 200 human societies with regard
to their sexual behavior. By implication, the book further undermines the
traditional Western moral absolutism in sexual matters.
The first hormonal contraceptive is developed. After being tested for several
years, "the pill" becomes widely available beginning in 1960.
In Los Angeles, the first American homosexual liberation organization,
the "Mattachine Society", is founded. It soon develops chapters in other parts
of the US. Some of its members begin to publish the first American gay rights
journal "ONE". |
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1952 |
The Hungarian-born American psychoanalyst Therese
Friedmann Benedek publishes “Psychosexual
Functions in Women”, dealing with the emotional response
of women to the fluctuations of hormones during the
sexual cycle.
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1953 |
Alfred C. Kinsey and his collaborators Wardell B. Pomeroy, Clyde E. Martin
and Paul H. Gebhard publish "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female".
Both "Kinsey Reports" are based on personal interviews (not questionnaires!)
with over 12.000 individuals from all over the USA. The extent of
demonstrated premarital and extramarital intercourse, the sexual capacities of
women as well as the extent of homosexual behavior lead to vehement attacks
by conservative religious and political leaders. As a result of this pressure,
Kinsey is denied further financial support for his research. |
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The physician Harry Benjamin,
a friend of Hirschfeld's, who, in 1913, had
moved to New York from Berlin, introduces the term "transsexuals",
distinguishing them for the first time from the transvestites. 13 years later, he publishes the first book on the subject: "The Transsexual Phenomenon". |
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1955 |
The American medical psychologist John Money introduces the distinction
between "sex" and "gender". This contributes to a new and more sophisticated
discussion of the differences between men and women. The distinction gains
increasing importance in sexology and also in Women's Studies.
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In San Francisco, Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon and other women found
the first Lesbian emancipation organization "The Daughters of Bilitis".
(The name "Bilitis" was taken from a work by the French author
Pierre Louys, The Songs of Bilitis (1894) supposedly translated
from a song cycle by an ancient Greek poetess and rival of Sappho.)
Their journal "The Ladder" becomes one of the most influential vehicles
for their cause in the US. |
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1957 |
The New York gynecologist Hans Lehfeldt, who had escaped from the Nazis
in Berlin, founds, together with others, the American "Society for the
Scientific Study of Sexuality" (SSSS). |
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1960 |
The American sociologist Ira Reiss in his book "Premarital Sexual Standards
in America" rejects the notion of a biological sex drive, stressing instead
human "social heredity". He also predicts the soon following "sexual
revolution" in the US. |
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1963 |
The American Betty Friedan publishes her book "The Feminine Mystique",
which articulates a rebellion against the imposed traditional role of the
housewife. Three years later, Friedan co-founds the "National Organization
for Women" (NOW). |
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1964
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In New York, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US (SIECUS)
is founded by the physician Mary Steichen Calderone
and others. This membership organization is devoted to sexuality
education for people of all ages and backgrounds. It maintains a
research library and publishes a bimonthly journal, the "SIECUS
Report".
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1965
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First issue of the "Journal of Sex Research", a publication of the SSSS.
The institute founded by Alfred C. Kinsey publishes "Sex Offenders: An
Analysis of Types". The authors are Paul H. Gebhard, John Gagnon, Wardell
B. Pomeroy and Cornelia Christenson. |
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1966
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The American gynecologist William H. Masters and Virginia Johnson
publish their study of the physiological processes during sexual activity:
"Human Sexual Response". After Moll and Reich, they again suggest a
4-phase model of the sexual response. 1. excitement, 2. plateau, 3. orgasm, 4.
resolution. |
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1967 |
The "American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists" (AASECT)
is founded. In the absence of American governmental standards,
this non-profit professional organization certifies sexual health practitioners as
qualified in their respective fields. The AASECT example is later followed
in Japan, India, and South America. |
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1968 |
The British scholar Mary McIntosh investigates "The Homosexual Role",
coming to the conclusion that homosexuality is not a definite biological
or psychological condition of certain individuals, which distinguishes
them from everyone else, but rather a label attached to them by others
and/or by themselves. It is a socially constructed role which is played
voluntarily or involuntarily by some men and women, but not by others
whose actual sexual behavior may not be much different. Ideas such as
this eventually lead to a dispute between "essentialists" (mostly natural
scientists), who continue to believe in some essential homosexuality, and
"constructionists" (mostly social scientists), who no longer share this belief. |
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1970 |
Masters and Johnson publish their study of sexual dysfunctions: "Human
Sexual Inadequacy". The book becomes the basis for a new behavioral "sex
therapy". |
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1971 |
The American psychiatrist Richard Green founds the "International Academy
of Sex Research". The Academy publishes the journal "Archives of Sexual
Behavior".
Rolf Gindorf founds the
"Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sozialwissenschaftliche
Sexualforschung"
(DGSS = German Society for Social-Scientific Sex Research). |
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1973 |
The American sociological sex researchers John Gagnon and William Simon
publish their book "Sexual Conduct: The Social Sources of Human Sexuality".
They describe sexual behavior as 'scripted' behavior i.e. as a pattern of
conduct following a certain 'script' or rather an interactively acquired
individual combination of several, sometimes contradictory scripts provided
by social institutions, family, friends, peer groups etc. Such scripts provide
models, patterns, or definitions of what is or is not 'sexual' in a particular
situation, how to interpret it and how to deal with it. Since the individual is
often faced with competing or even mutually exclusive sexual scripts,
personal conflicts of various kinds in this area are common. With these
and similar arguments, the authors dismiss the once popular notion of a
universal human 'sex drive'.
The American Psychiatric Association strikes the diagnosis "homosexuality"
from its "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual". Thus, literally with the stroke
of a pen, the label of illness is removed from millions of men and women.
From that moment on, 'homosexuals' are healthy again - the greatest and
fastest mass cure in medical history. |
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1974 |
The World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva convenes a meeting of
sexologists and experts in public health. As a result, it publishes a report in the
following year: "Education and Treatment in Human Sexuality:
The Training
of Health Professionals".
The report recommends, among other things, that
sexology should become an autonomous discipline in the education and
training of health professionals. |
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At the initiative of Hans Lehfeldt, the first World Congress of Sexology is
organized in Paris. Other such congresses follow in Montréal (1976), Rome
(1978), Mexico City (1979), Jerusalem (1981), Washington, DC. (1983),
New Delhi (1985), Heidelberg (1987), Caracas (1989), Amsterdam (1991),
Rio de Janeiro (1993), Yokohama (1995), and Valencia (1997). The next
congresses will be held in Hong Kong (1999) and Paris (2001). |
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First issue of the "Journal of Homosexuality", edited by Charles Silverstein. Within a few years, its editorship passes into
the hands of the psychologist John P. De Cecco who turns it into the leading journal of research
on sexual orientation that it remains to this day.
In Great Britain, the Association of Sexual and Marital Therapists is formed,
later to become the British Association for Sexual and Marital Therapy
(BASMT). |
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1976 |
At the request of the American Humanist Association, the sex educator Lester A. Kirkendall formulates a "A Bill of Sexual Rights and Responsibilities". The statement is signed by many prominent American and foreign sexologists.
In San Francisco, "The Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality" is
founded, a state-approved private graduate school which offers state-approved
Master's and Doctoral degrees in sexology. Its Academic Dean is Wardell
B. Pomeroy, formerly the closest collaborator of Alfred C. Kinsey's. |
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1977 |
In England, Charlotte Wolff, a Berlin-born therapist who had escaped the
Nazis, publishes her pioneering book "Bisexuality: A Study". |
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1978 |
In Rome the World Association for Sexology (WAS) is founded. It assumes
the responsibility of organizing the subsequent World Congresses of
Sexology. |
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1981 |
In Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, the first cases of a new,
deadly infectious disease are reported. It soon becomes known under the name
of AIDS (HIV Infection), and it spreads all over the globe. Since the disease is
sexually transmissible, it has enormous implications for both sexual behavior
and the study of sex. |
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1986 |
The "American Board of Sexology" (ABS) is organized in Washington, D.C.
This professional organization awards the status of diplomate to sexologists
who meet its rigorous standards. |
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1988 |
First issue of the new German "Zeitschrift für Sexualforschung" (Journal for
Sex Research). |
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1989
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The "European Federation of Sexology" (EFS) is founded in Geneva. |
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1990
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The "Asian Federation for Sexology" (AFS) is founded in Hongkong on the
occasion of the "First Conference of Sexuality in Asia".
The "American Academy of Clinical Sexologists" is organized in Washington,
D.C. This sister organization of the American Board of Sexology
provides professional recognition for qualified physicians, sex therapists and
sex counselors. |
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At the Charité and at the Reichstag the III. "International Berlin Conference
for Sexology", organized by the DGSS and colleagues from Humboldt-
University, unites participants from 20 countries. (The first two comparable
conferences had been organized by Hirschfeld in 1921 and Moll in 1926).
This meeting is also the 10th national conference of the DGSS, which awards
its newly created Magnus Hirschfeld Medals for Sexual Science and Sexual
Reform to Ernest Borneman (Austria) and Herman Musaph (Netherlands). |
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1991
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The Indian physician Prakash Kothari organizes the "First International
Conference on Orgasm" in New Delhi. |
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1992
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IV. "International Berlin Conference for Sexology", again organized by the
DGSS and colleagues from Humboldt University. This meeting is also the
11th national conference of the DGSS, which awards its Magnus Hirschfeld
Medals for Sexual Science and Sexual Reform to John De Cecco (USA) and
Imre Aszódi (Hungary). |
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The Shanghai sociologist Dalin Liu and his collaborators publish their
voluminous study "Sexual Behavior in Modern China: Report of the
Nation-Wide Survey of 20 000 Men and Women". The book (written and
printed in Chinese) is presented at the Second Asian Conference of Sexology
(American edition published in 1997).
"First Conference of the European Federation of Sexology" (EFS) in
Taormina. |
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1994 |
V. "International Berlin Conference for Sexology", again organized by the
DGSS and colleagues from Humboldt University, commemorating the 75th
anniversary of the opening of Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexology
(founded in 1919). This meeting is also the 12th national conference of the
DGSS.
The federal Robert Koch Institute in Berlin opens its Archive for Sexology in
a suburb of Berlin, thereby reviving the city's sexological tradition, especially
that of Hirschfeld's institute. The Archive is accessible to the public at regular
openig hours.
Third Asian Conference of Sexology in New Delhi. |
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1995 |
In collaboration with the Robert Koch Institute, Archive for Sexology, the
sexological collection of Dalin Liu, Shanghai, is shown in Berlin under the title
"5.000 Years of Sexual Culture in China".
XII. World Congress of Sexology in Yokohama, Japan. |
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1996 |
The Archive for Sexology of the Robert Koch Institute moves to the center of
Berlin.
The Institute for Sexology and Sexual Medicine is founded at the Charité Berlin.
The Asian Federation for Sexology (AFS) holds its IV. Asian Conference of Sexology in Taipei. |
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1997 |
XIII. World Congress of Sexology and Human Rights in Valencia, Spain.
The congress issues a declaration of sexual rights.
VI. International Berlin
Conference for Sexology: "100 years of Gay Liberation". From May to August, the Academy of Arts in Berlin
shows an exhibition "100 Years of Gay Activism". |
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1998 |
The Asian Federation for Sexology (AFS) holds its V. Asian Conference of Sexology in Seoul, Korea.
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1999 |
The World Association of Sexology (WAS) holds its XIV. World Congress of Sexology in Hong Kong.
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2000 |
The European Federation of Sexology (EFS) holds its 5th Congress in Berlin.
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2001 |
Social Science Conference on Human Sexuality in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
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15th World Congress of Sexology in Paris.
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