Cari Peterson FHS 2450 Online Final Project

1. Cari PetersonFHS 2450OnlineFinal Project

2. ‘Errorgoenous’ Zones: Kinsey’s Sexual Ideologyby:Alan J. Levine

3. In this project I will be writing a report on the afore mentioned book. The book is broken up into different sections and I will be using those to report on this book. • This book is Alan J. Levine’s view on Alfred Kinsey’s scientific research on Sexual Ideology in the earlier part of the twentieth century.

4. ‘Errorgenous’ Zones:Kinsey’s Sexual Ideology • This is the first section of the book. Really this section talks mostly about Kinsey’s reports. The author explains much about the research that Kinsey did in the early twentieth century and how we still use the information found in the Kinsey Reports.

5. In this section it explains that many of Kinsey’s findings were controversial to more conservative and religious groups. • Mr. Levine talks about how many people read the Kinsey reports to find out if they were ‘normal’ only to find out that Kinsey rejected the concept of ‘normal’.

6. In this section Mr. Levine also talks about how even though the Kinsey reports are some of the most used sexual studies, scientists, even then, questioned Kinsey’s findings. • The scientists criticized Kinsey’s findings because of the groups that he used in his interviews.

7. In Alfred Kinsey’s report on males he used white male Americans only. His thoughts were that black males weren’t much different when they were of similar social class. • Mr. Levine talks about how many of Kinsey’s findings are questionable. His methods of gathering information were very doubtful, and Kinsey used many of his own opinions in his scientific findings.

8. Mr. Levine explains that Kinsey’s groups were unbalanced. He says that sexual relations between married couples were given only one-third the space allotted to homosexuality. He also explains that Kinsey paid almost no attention to rape, incest, child molestation, or sadomasochism. He explains that Kinsey took an almost passé view of ‘sexual offences’.

9. Mr. Levine tells us that Kinsey regarded sex as just a single drive. Something that differed in individuals but is always the same. This tells us that Kinsey made a mechanical distinction between the sex drive and expression.

10. He talks about how Kinsey’s measure of outlet was the total number of orgasms achieved by the subject. Kinsey assumed that all orgasms are equal, no matter how they are achieved. • Kinsey talked about how the form of outlet was determined by stimulus, conditioning, and opportunity. Levine points out that Kinsey didn’t offer a definition of what is sufficient stimulus beyond ‘that which is sufficient’.

11. Levine pointed out that Kinsey, in his own description of his interviews suggested that they were highly subjective. That Kinsey followed the practice of ‘placing the burden of denial’ on the subject. • Levine shows us that Kinsey’s reports failed to correct for ‘volunteer error’. The fact is that sex surveys don’t usually bring in the conservative groups. Also that Kinsey ignored this problem.

12. We find out that Kinsey’s favorite group of subjects were the criminals. Levine talks about how Kinsey seemed to have a skewed view of these people. He’s quoted as saying ‘The underworld requires only a gesture of honest friendship before it is ready to admit one as a friend and give histories.’

13. Levine talks about how even though male prison inmates were very over represented in Kinsey’s findings, they were not used in the female reports. Levine supposes this is because it may have compromised Kinsey’s views on adults having sexual relations with children, and that it’s not really harmful.

14. Levine explains that many of Kinsey’s findings were likely to exaggerate how much homosexuality was really found. This may be why many of Kinsey’s subjects were prisoners.

15. The Obliteration of the Normal • In this section Mr. Levine talks about how even though Kinsey claimed to be accumulating ‘an objectively determined body of fact about sex which strictly voids social or moral interpretations of the facts’ but with his own opinions going into his studies this statement was a lie.

16. Kinsey talks about how we, in our culture, have determined what is normal and what is abnormal. Kinsey actually blamed the scientists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for this instead of ‘Victorian prudery’ or people’s idea’s of privacy.

17. Levine talked about how Kinsey only used the word ‘perversion’ just once in both of his volumes. It was not to explain child molestation, but to explain heterosexuals having sex with their clothes on. He explains that what we thought are perversions were actually fairly common. That all ‘taboo’ relations were valid.

18. Kinsey claimed that the term ‘abnormal’ used to describe sexual relations that caused social maladjustment was untrue. Levine says that Kinsey claimed that most who participate in ‘taboo’ relations make satisfactory social adjustments. Kinsey claimed that psychiatrists assumed otherwise because they met the rare individuals that are upset by such things. Though there was no material in Kinsey’s reports that supported this.

19. Levine explains that Kinsey insisted that the moral code we know today was Jewish or Judo-Christian in origin and that the scientists that opposed his ideas were using masks for attitudes found in religion.

20. Kinsey argues that discouraging masturbation and premarital intercourse along with regarding homosexuality as abnormal and suggesting that adultery destroyed homes were simply excuses for people with sexual inactivity.

21. Levine tells us that Kinsey said that all condemnation of homosexuality was blamed only on the Judeo-Christian tradition. He neglected to mention that there have been many other societies that have not been friendly with the idea of homosexuality.

22. Levine talks about how Kinsey stated that if taboo activities led to complications or even crimes it was only due to society reactions.

23. Kinsey and Homosexuality • One of Kinsey’s findings made claims that homosexuality is much more common than originally thought. He claims that a majority of the population has had at least some experience with homosexuality.

24. Levine shows us the scale Kinsey made showing the graduations between homosexuality and heterosexuality. The scale being from 0 to 6 with 0 being extreme heterosexual and 6 being extreme homosexual. He also brought forth an X for those who have no apparent sexual interest.

25. Kinsey also thought that if it was socially acceptable, homosexuality would be more frequent. He also suggested that ‘every individual could respond to stimuli from same sex individuals if the opportunity presented itself.’

26. Levine says that the way Kinsey talks about homosexuality is that he thought that exclusive heterosexuality is a social abnormality.

27. Kinsey argued that if a person had one homosexual experience that became public then that person would almost be forced into an exclusively homosexual pattern.

28. Levine tells us that Kinsey thought the restraints on premarital relations with heterosexuals was a factor in encouraging homosexuality. This we know isn’t true and that sexual orientation is fixed in early childhood.

29. Kinsey and Sexual Offenses • Levine talks about how flippant Kinsey talks about sexual offenses, mostly those against children. Kinsey blurs the line between major and minor offenses. He just pretty much says that all of them are minor offenses.

30. Levine explains that Kinsey didn’t seem to be able to differ between exhibitionism and raping children. He would minimize the damage that was done and harp on how it was dangerous to overreact and have excessive penalties.

31. Kinsey claimed that many of the accusations made by children of elderly men, (the only child molester that Kinsey could see) were not true. That in fact the child was just being shown affection. Kinsey also thought that the law in punishing these offenses did more damage to the persons involved than the person who committed the sexual activity.

32. Levine points out that Kinsey really underestimated the occurrence of child molestation. Kinsey also believed that the incidents occurred repeatedly to the same individual because that person/child liked the activity.

33. Kinsey claims that if our culture hadn’t conditioned our children to be disturbed by these approaches that these occurrences wouldn’t be so damaging. He said that a child shouldn’t be disturbed at having their bodies touched in a sexual manner or seeing another's genitalia. He thought that the most damage came after the child disclosed what happened when they told a parent or authority figure.

34. Kinsey didn’t really ever mention incest except to say that it doesn’t happen as often as others think it does. Kinsey really underestimated the crimes against children, or else these have grown tremendously since 1953. With Kinsey’s thoughts some of his associates later became apologists for incest.

35. Kinsey and Bestiality • Kinsey was apparently unscathed by bestiality and claimed it to be more common than thought. That even it was not rare for different species to join in mating rituals with other species as well. He failed to mention if those animals had access to their own species.

36. Kinsey wrote that the objections we have with sexual contacts with animals was based solely on religious views.

37. Alan Levine states Kinsey’s data is unreliable and he showed his own opinion too much. Blaming culture and religion for things graded as abnormal that he found normal. • Levine says that education based on Kinsey’s findings, something that has been common for the last forty years, is unsatisfactory.

38. He also explains that we do not know enough about sexual behavior, but a study on it should be done by people in a genuine scientific manner.

39. What I learned This book was kind of an eye opener for me. In a few classes that I’ve had, we’ve used Kinsey’s scale for heterosexuality and homosexuality. It makes me think that we are relying on Kinsey’s study, even though we know a lot of it to be wrong and outdated, because we have yet to do a study of the same. This makes me want to read more studies and find out what really sexual behavior is all about in the world. Though I ‘d like to concentrate on the culture differences.