History of Sex Research Greeks to 1900 Early knowledge gained from watching animals 400 B C Aristotle History of Animals Parts of Animals and Generation of Animals foundation of western sexology developed classification system reproduction by sexual asexual and spontaneous generation During this period believed male contributed the seed the woman brought to fruition Plato wandering uterus causes hysteria in women 1600 Vesalius discounted wandering uterus theory female anatomy still misunderstood 1653 William Harvey discovered importance of female egg to reproduction by studying animals 1678 Anton van Leeuwenhoek used early microscope to identify sperm as seed compared healthy unhealthy men sperm survived longer in warm environment coined term spermatozoa reasserted idea of male supremacy in reproduction 1873 Eduard van Beneden fertilization the result of two half sets of chromosomes joining to form full set 354 430 St Augustine ideal Christian life one of celibacy 1668 1738 Dutch Hermann Boehaave Institutiones Medicae rash expenditure of semen brought on a lassitude a feebleness a weakening of motion fits wasting dryness fevers aching of the cerebral membranes obscuring of the senses and above all the eyes a decay of the spinal chord a fatuity and other like evils all non procreative sex dangerous fornication better than masturbation Doctors expected to give medical advice about sexuality infertility not understood sexual activity potentially dangerous Protestants Puritans sex within marriage a source of pleasure One physician published case history the husband had the fatal habit of applying the tongue and lips to his wife s genitals to provoke in her venereal orgasm believed woman s life may be in danger husband may develop cancer of the tongue Women must be careful not to enjoy sex women expected to be maternal not sexual diseased women had excessive animal passion Elizabeth Osgood Goodrich Willard coined term sexology humankind must stop the waste of energy through the sexual organs if we would have health and strength of body Just as sure as that the excessive abuse of the sexual organs destroy their power and use producing inflammation disease and corruption just so sure it it that a less amount of abuse in the same relative proportion injures the parental function of the organs and impairs the health and strength of the whole system Abnormal action is abuse Preventative measures perforated foreskin of the penis applied ointments that severely increased sensitivity applied hot irons to the inner thighs Homosexuality Sex Research 1825 Karl Ulrichs argued that homosexual men had female element homosexual activity acceptable argued homosexuality was congenital 1840 1902 Krafft Ebing viewed sexual behavior as pathological Psychopathia Sexualis coined terms for homosexuality fetishism sadism masochism Sadism named after Marquis de Sade Masochism named after Leopold von Sacher Masoch 1857 1911 Alfred Binet emphasized early childhood experience 1854 1900 Oscar Wilde prosecution for homosexuality brought widespread public attention 1821 1890 Richard Burton translated the Kama Sutra Magnus Hirschfeld Early sexuality researcher Homosexual transvestite Argued that most people born bisexual Conducted sex surveys 1903 Reported 2 2 homosexual Proposed that secretions responsible for sexual feelings endocrinology 1921 helped organize the International Conference of Sexual Reform Based on Sexual Science importance of secretions discussed Havelock Ellis Sex reformer 1896 1928 Studies in the Psychology of Sex individual and cultural relativism w sex Believed deviations from normal were harmless Believed sexual experimentation part of adolescence Believed homosexuality was genetic bisexuality the norm Non scientific methods used second hand accounts used historical and cross cultural data Argued for greater contraceptive information marriage reform rights for women and minorities Sigmund Freud Sex researcher and reformer Studied physiology and medicine Early theories anxiety the result of masturbation nocturnal emissions dangerous Later theories beliefs every neurosis had a specific sexual cause dreams are disguised fulfillment of unconscious sexual desires children have sexual feelings developed the theory of the Oedipus complex all people bisexual perverse sexual drives common Sex in America Many early sex researchers were women Early research inspired by concerns about prostitution pornography sexually transmitted diseases alcoholism women s rights and the role of virtuous women Clelia Mosher 1863 1940 professor at Stanford 1910 surveyed married women 48 subjects ignorance about sex upon marriage the norm 35 reported sexual desire 34 reported experiencing orgasms absence of orgasm bad even disastrous nerve wracking findings published in 1974 Robert Latou Dickinson 1861 1950 significant contribution to female sexuality first wide scale data base compiled data on 5 000 cases broad range of data physical drawings self report longitudinal data Findings married women masturbated more than single women frequency of intercourse 2 3 week in married sample 11 once a year or less first to examine female sexual response examined women as they masturbated to orgasm demonstrated that female orgasm also involved physiological changes Katharine Bement Davis 1860 1935 on board of the Bureau of Social Hygiene Warden at a reformatory for women primarily prostitutes advocated assessment of prostitutes prior to sentencing 1912 laboratory formed to study prostitutes later involved in the study of sexuality in women in general subjects drawn from women s colleges findings 71 reported sex before marriage 9 3 reported having at least 1 abortion Bureau of Social Hygiene provided funding explosion in sexuality research Alfred Kinsey 1948 Published the Kinsey Report on sexual practices in the U S based on extensive interviews concerned with validity of findings used checks for consistency concerned with bias by interviewer used multiple raters 1 5 hours to 17 hours with a pedophile used likert scale regarding homosexuality heterosexuality Findings 37 of males had one homosexual experience 4 subjects identified as exclusively homosexual Criticisms subjects not randomly selected subjects primarily Midwesterners subjects volunteers William Masters Virginia Johnson One of the first to study the sexual act in the laboratory 1950 s Initially used prostitutes Sexual Response Cycle measured heart rate respiratory