THE

CHALLENGE

of the KINSEY

REPORT

by

Richard E. Lentz

DR. ALFRED C. KINSEY seated 8,000 "human females" in the witness chair, putting to each one on the average 300 questions about her sexual behavior, A careful record of replies was made in code. The Kinsey report of Sexual Behavior in the Human Female contains prin. cipally the tabulations and interpretations of the responses of 5,940 of the individuals questioned. In this report is data from white women only. None of them is from the prison population. None was a prostitute.

Much of the controversy over the Kinsey report concerns: (1) the reliability of its information, and (2) the extent to which it may be regarded as typical of all American women. Can persons accurately recall sexual experiences after a decade or more? Will they honestly report what they remember? Are 5,940 case histories a representative sample for this research? Perhaps each reader will form his own conclusions.

Many comments have been made about the Kinsey report by persons who have not read the recently published technical volume on Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. The vast majority of the American people are not prepared emotionally or educationally to interpret for themselves the significance of social science research in the field of sexual behavior. They will need to know what Dr. Kinsey and his associates actually say before they can appraise the value of the study for them personally or professionally. To shout hysterically, "Shocking! Revolting!" is

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This article originally published in the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, and reprinted as a folder by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., Chicago, is significant because it points up a recognition of human sexuality as a matter which Christian churches must consider. This consideration, it is explained, must bring into the open what many Bible readers have long suspected.

as unwarranted by the facts as the exclamation, "At last! A rationale for free love!"

What then are some of the major conclusions presented in the 1953 progress report in sex research? Perhaps it is natural that the most discussed part of the Kinsey report should be the statistical summaries of various types of female sexual behavior, although this information finally may not prove to be the most significant aspect of the study. Are these "revelations" so eagerly sought by many because, as one man put it, "We want to see if the women are as bad as the men"?

What does Dr. Kinsey report? Twenty-seven per cent of the 5,940 women interviewed recalled specific experiences in which they had been sexually aroused prior to adolescence (12-13 years of age; according to Kinsey), but only half of these had actually reached sexual climax. Self-induced erotic experience, less frequent among girls than boys, became steadily more common as a type of sexual behavior among the women, reaching a maximum of 54 per cent for single women 36-40 years of age.

The uniqueness of premarital petting in America is not its prevalence nor its methods but the frankness with which it is accepted by modern American youth. About 90 per cent of the individuals interviewed by Dr. Kinsey re-

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ported premarital petting experience. Only 30 per cent of the women, however, recalled petting to sexual climax. Nearly 50 per cent of the women answered "Yes" to having had sexual intercourse before marriage. Most expressed "No regret." Perhaps this is explained in part by the fact that 46 per cent of the women having sexual intercourse before marriage had limited the activity to include only their fiance.

Regarding marriage, several summaries are important. Two out of three of the marriages covered by the interviews had on occasion at least run into serious disagreement over sexual relations. Three-fourths of the divorcees reported serious disagreement over sexual relations. In describing their conduct in marriage, 26 per cent of the married women told of having engaged in extra-marital sexual intercourse. Extra-marital petting was more common. These figures become. relatively larger when it is noted that the average length of the marriage involved was only 7.1 years. The highest percentage of extra-marital activity was reported by married women in their "mid-thirties and early forties."

By the age of 30. a few more than 1,000 of the 6,000 women had had physical contact with other females, which was deliberately and consciously at least on the part of one of the partners intended to be sexual. As could be expected, this activity was limited mainly to the single or formerly married women. Twenty-five per cent of this group between the ages of 35 and 45 reported having engaged in such activity at some time.

More important than the numerical statistics just summarized-and admittedly those data are important-are several other aspects of this research in human behavior. The study itself represents a serious attempt to get actual facts in a vital area of human experience not usually open to investigation. On almost every page there are intimations of the, radical adjustment of sex standards and education that may ultimately develop as the sexual needs of persons are faced realistically by our culture. Is masturbation physically or psychologically harmful? Does premarital petting or/and premarital intercourse decrease or increase a couple's chances of marital accord? What is the desirable single sex standard for both men and women? When do children first become interested in sex? What are the elements of satisfying sexual experience and what kind of marriage best provides for it? These are some of the questions in which men and women state their sex problems today.

Expand the concept of truth They are looking for help from those who un-

derstand their needs and their capacities. They cannot be satisfied with ignorance, superstition, or surmise. They want the truth about themselves. Church leaders must welcome this quest for self-understanding and for truth. They will seek to expand the concept of truth to include many factors not considered at all in such approaches as the Kinsey study.

The title: Sexual Behavior in the Human Female is an example of the limited concepts behind the Kinsey studies. For the purpose of their research understandably the staff of the Institute of Sex Research adopted certain basic assumptions to be used in the investigations. They decided to study behavior. They determined to approach the persons whom they would interview as human females.

Several chapters begin with a discussion of mammals in general, then turn to a consideration of the human female. This scientific approach has contributed much to the understanding of the physical aspects of human existence. But the human personality and the relationships between men and women involve many additional elements that lie beyond the Kinsey investigations. it is man's difference from other animals and

not his likeness to them which makes him human. Motives and attitudes behind behavior are often more significant than the overt act. The moral and spiritual meaning of activity to the actor and society are an important part of the truth to be recognized in any realistic sex standard.

A biologist should not be criticized for failing to consider the "upper limits" of human personality: that is the special responsibility of religion. The publication of the Kinsey report challenges us to interpret sex in terms of the whole man as a child of God.

People now recognize that the sexual aspects of their nature are integral to life. The Church must lead them to see that the sexual aspects of their life are God created, too. The purposes of God in creation are revealed to a considerable extent in the yearnings of men. Dogma alone will not satisfy modern men and women in dealing with their sexual yearning. "God made male and female! God made me as I am! Why did He make me feel this way fifteen years before I can do anything about it?" These are the anguished words of a conscientious young Christian! Teach the Christian use of sex

There are thousands of earnest men and women in the churches who ask for constructive guidance in discovering the Christian use of the power of sex in their lives. At present the Church, except in a few isolated cases, is unprepared to help them. Partly by the Kinsey 7