Theories of Sexology |Development of Sexology

Per Weiner, L., and Avery-Clark, C. 2014, Masters and Johnson are remembered for detecting scientific data on the human sexual response. Masters and Johnson also came up with a short-term treatment program for sexual dysfunctions. Even though coming up with a treatment is important, their most important work to the field of sex therapy is the development of sensate focus or sexual exercises for couples or individuals. The sex therapy field began to flourish more as more clinicians started to follow and train with Masters and Johnson (Weiner & Avery-Clark, 2014).

William Masters and Virginia Johnson

Per Maier, Thomas 2013, William Masters was born on December 27^th 1915 and died February 16^th, 2001.  He is best known for being a member of the Masters and Johnson’s sexuality research team. Masters and his wife were the leading researchers in human sexual response and diagnosis and treatment of sexual problems. Masters was one of two children. Masters had a rough childhood and was abused. Once Masters began his education his dad stopped supporting him. After going to Hamilton college, he rarely went home.  After he finished Hamilton college he enrolled into the University of Rochester Medical School and received his medical degree. Masters then became a teacher at Washington University in St. Louis. Masters met Johnson in 1957 and hired her as a research assistant to take part in a study of human sexuality. Master and Johnson married in 1971, but then divorced. The divorce also brought their study to an end.

Per Maier, Thomas 2013, Virginia Johnson was born in Springfield, Mo. Johnson helped Masters develop a tool that measured sexual arousal in people. This tool helped observe 700 men and women who agreed to participate in sexual activity. Others agreed to only masturbate. The team observed these subjects and concluded that there are four stages of sexual response. These phases are the excitement phase, plateau phase, orgasmic phase, and resolution phase. In 1964 Masters and Johnson created their own research institution in St. Louis called the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation. It was renamed Masters and Johnson Institute (Maier, Thomas 2013).

Sex Therapy

Weiner, L., and Avery-Clark, C. (2014), also said that Sensate Focus became the concentration of Masters and Johnsons work. Sensate Focus continues to be used today for sex therapy. There has been confusion about Sensate Focus and natural function. Masters and Johnson are famous for their statement that sex is a natural function. Masters and Johnson believed that sexual functioning was natural. Masters and Johnson thought it was like bowel function, and bladder function. Masters and Johnson was certain that sexual functioning was something one is born with. They were certain that it could not be taught. One cannot control emotional responses such as sexual responses and pleasure. Every emotion varies from the sensation that comes from one’s body. Natural aspects of sexual arousal include: erection, lubrication, and orgasms. One cannot simply demand these things to happen or even keep them from happening. Trying to control these natural sexual reactions can become a sexual difficulty (Weiner & Avery-Clark, 2014).

Weiner, L., and Avery-Clark, C. (2014), had said that Masters and Johnson’s original research was focused on the natural and physiological qualities of sexual responses. Masters and Johnson had come up with treatment for sexual dysfunctions. Clients who suffer from sexual issues such as performance anxiety.  The goal of treatment is to counteract the sexual issues. Clients must learn to focus on what they do have control over instead of what they don’t have control over. When one is mindful of Sensate Focus and one is focusing on the sensations of the body it then flourishes into arousal and pleasure (Weiner & Avery-Clark, 2014).

Alex Comfort

Per Comfort and Quilliam, 2008, Alex comfort is a physician and a human biologist. He studies the history of human sexuality. He wrote The Joy of Sex (2008) during a time when sexual information wasn’t common. He also wanted to make sure people were receiving the right fats about sex. Comfort believed there was a lack of information throughout our society. Comfort continued to revise the book, because sexual behavior changes over the years.

The Joy of Sex

Per Comfort and Quilliam, 2008 Dr. Alex Comfort, was an expert in the field of human sexuality. He wrote the book The Joys of Sex (2008). The reason he had wrote this book is to undo the damage caused by the lack of knowledge and information. He believed there is reassurance needed for some people. He wanted to reassure the people about things they already knew and would even give them answers to questions that they may have had. One can now read his book and have less sexual fear. Dr. Alex Comfort split the book into sections. These sections include: ingredients, appetizers, main course, and sauces and pickles. The ingredient section is what sets the mood. The best way to set the mood is to be tender with one’s partner, both people should be naked, act off each other’s hormones, and even if it is one’s first time having sex they should show confidence. Dr. Alex Comfort said that foreplay is a good way to set the mood. Men should lightly touch their partner and stimulate the clitoris and breasts. To give a woman sensation to other parts of her body one could stimulate her nipples. The book is an instruction manual on how to give your woman that sensation needed for arousal. Dr. Alex comfort gave picture examples and text examples of how one could arouse their partner and get a sexual response from them. Dr. Alex comfort said that it is good to have compatibility for the sex to be comfortable and pleasurable. In the section appetizers, the foreplay begins. Food can be used as an item to help give sensation to the body. Some people do not prefer food and dancing is a supplement for it. Technology has improved the acts of foreplay. There is such thing as phone sex, copying porns, or the use of lubricants and toys can be used to arouse the body. One of the most common foreplay techniques is talking about each other’s fantasies and putting them into action. Biting is another way to arouse someone. Biting arouses most of the population. Typically, it is soft nibbles that arouses one another rather than harder bites. Hard bites are a turn off, because they are more painful. The main course section of the book describes what postures work best for certain intercourse. Dr. Alex Comfort even talked about birth control and how that can become arousing. Penetration is said to be the most unifying sexual act.  Sauces and pickles are the accessories that are used to help the arousal process. Body paints, clothing, shoes are all accessories used. This is the time to find out people’s fetishes. This whole book is to help one arouse themselves and their partner. The book helps one feel confident in performing their sexual needs and desires. The book is to help one release sexual tension and even help with other sexual issues one may have. It is a form of sex therapy (Comfort & Quilliam, 2008).

Kinsey

Per Gathorne-Hardy, Johnathan. 1998, Alfred Kinsey was born in Hoboken New Jersey on June 23^rd 1894. Alfred Kinsey was a Methodist. He was not allowed to enjoy pleasurable Sundays. His father was also very involved with the church as he taught Sunday school. The only thing they could do was pray. The way Kinsey was raised religiously played an important role his whole life. Kinsey ended up being socially awkward. Kinsey never really talked to many people except for a few members of their church. In high-school Kinsey was completely oblivious to all sexual matters. Glenn Ramsy who became one of Kinsey’s colleagues conducted a study in the 1939-1940s of high-school students on sexual knowledge. Only 19% of boys knew that a baby had to have a mother. However, 0% realized it took a man to help make a baby. Back then 91% of these high-school boys didn’t even know what virgin meant. 27 percent had no idea what the word intercourse meant and 96 percent didn’t know the word masturbation. The high-school female population knew less than the boys that were approximately the same age. 71 percent knew nothing about menstruation. Only 29 percent knew that the egg cell came from the mother (3% thought it was given to them by the hospital). Kinsey’s religion played a big part in this, because in a Christian religion sex was sinful unless it was between a man and his wife to reproduce. The knowledge of sex was a sin and is the reason why people knew nothing about it. For many years, up until the 1960s boys were shipped to boarding schools and separated from the females. Since there was separation, the boys would often fall in love with each other. The boys who fell in love with each other often had sex together as well. When Kinsey was 19 he had a romantic relationship with one of his boy scout troop members Kenneth Hand. At the time of this romantic relationship Kenneth Hand was only 15. Kinsey ended up rebelling from his upbringing. He rebelled against his father and the church. Since the church was against sex Kinsey wanted to study sex and go against the churches beliefs. Kinsey studied the emotional, spiritual, and love aspects of love. In Kinsey’s thoughts sex was just as involving as religion. When Kinsey realized, he had his own sexual needs and how other people behaved sexually he had also realized the churches falseness about sex (Gathorne-Hardy, 1998).

Per Alfred C. Kinsey, Wardell R. Pomeroy, and Clyde E. Martin. 2003, Kinsey believed that males have some type of homosexual experience at some point in their life. Kinsey conducted a study to show that men do have some type of homosexual experience in their life time. The data showed that 37 percent of the male population had some homosexual experience within their life time. The data also specified that males who were unmarried until the age of 35, about 50 percent of them had a homosexual experience between the adolescent age to the age of 35. The reason Alfred Kinsey conducted this study was to have a better understanding of human sexual behavior and to comprehend the reality of sex (Kinsey et al., 2003).

Kinsey went on to write about sexual Behavior. Kinsey is known for writing Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). He is also known for the Kinsey reports and the Kinsey scale. Kinsey’s research became the foundation to the field of sexology.

Conclusion

Even though Kinsey set the foundation for sexology Masters and Johnson expanded on it. Masters and Johnson did not communicate very well and they did not publish everything. They did publish and communicate enough for people to expand on their research and sex therapy. Dr. Alex Comfort follows their four stages with his book. He makes sure to cover the excitement, the plateau, orgasmic phase, and the resolution phase. Kinsey observed that people do have feelings and urges even though it was frowned upon by the church. He realized that the church was wrong and did everything he could to go against them and find out more about these sexual urges and responses. Kinsey communicated and gave information about sex that no one would have really known about unless he had spoken up. He didn’t flourish as much as Johnson and Masters because at the time it was frowned upon to even talk about sex more so than when Masters and Johnson expanded on his research. Dr. Alex comfort and several other clinicians go off masters and Johnsons research to make sure that people are informed and knowledgeable about sex. They help people with their sexual dysfunctions. They believed that sex is a natural thing and it is not wrong to act on one’s sexual responses.

References

Alfred C. Kinsey, Wardell R. Pomeroy, and Clyde E. Martin. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. American Journal of Public health: June 2003, vol.93, No.6, pp 894-898. Doi: 10-2103/AJPH.93-6-894

Burton D. Frances (1971). Sexual Climax in female Macaca Mulatta. Vol.3, pp. 180-191.

Comfort, Alex, and Quilliam, Susan. (2008). The Joy of Sex. New York: Octopus Publishing Group.

Gathorne-Hardy, Johnathan. (1998). Sex the Measure of all Things: A life of Alfred C. Kinsey. Indiana University Press.

Maier, Thomas (2013). Masters of Sex. Biography and Autobiography. Basic Books.

Weiner, L., & Avery-Clark, C. (2014). Sensate Focus: clarifying the Masters and Johnson’s model. Sexual & Relationship Therapy, 29(3), 307-319. doi:10.1080/14681994.2014.892920