Sex Researchers:

Background

Who is Wardell Pomeroy? Wardell Pomeroy, along with Clyde Martin, were colleagues of Alfred Kinsey and a co-author of the Kinsey reports. The Kinsey Institute was established on April 8, 1947 at Indiana University, and its basis was to conduct research on sex. Pomeroy was hired by Kinsey as one of the members of the original research team in order to conduct interviews regarding sexual histories of the participants. He was the first researcher at the Kinsey Institute, and his colleagues were Paul Gebhard, an anthropologist from Harvard, and Clyde Martin, an economist and statistician. He also produced many articles on incest for Penthouse Forum Magazine.
Pomeroy, with the assistance of Calderone of Planned Parenthood, founded the Sex Information and Education Institute of the United States (SIECUS), now known as the Sexuality Information And Education Institute of the United States. He was also a director for The San Francisco based Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality.

Theories/Research

Pomeroy’s duties included aiding Kinsey research studies on sex and collecting data on sexual behavior statistics. Along with Kinsey, Pomeroy believed that there are numerous types of sexualities and sexual acts, the most obvious are premarital intercourse, extramarital affairs, bisexuality, homosexuality, heterosexuality, and pedophilia. He theorized that all sexuality is healthy, satisfying, and good, including incest between adult and a child. His idea was that all types of sex is okay as long as it is pleasurable and satisfying for both the parties whether it be a child verses adult, men verses men, women verses women, or men verses women. It was apparent to him that biologically humans can have sexual experiences with children, adults, opposite gender, same gender, or even animals. He hypothesized that engaging in most types of sexual activities is restricted by cultural or societal conditioning which represents what is ethical or unethical, acceptable or unacceptable, correct or incorrect, right or wrong. He further explained that most sexual deviant behaviors were not pathological, but a societal or cultural problem. The researchers commented: "A choice of a partner in a sexual relation becomes more significant only because society demands that there be a particular choice in this matter" (Kinsey, Pomeroy, & Martin, 1948). Pomeroy’s work also dug out the fact that women were more of a sexual being than thought previously.
In 1948, Pomeroy, Kinsey, and Martin published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and five years later, in 1953, they published Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Their books emphasized that children are sexual beings from birth, are capable of experiencing sexual pleasures, and therefore are entitled to experience sex at any age. Pomeroy also stated that some types of incest could actually be beneficial to children as long as there were no bodily harm done, and it was consensual.

Results

He conducted several studies one of which focused on transvestites. He found that 68% of male cross dressers were exclusively heterosexual compared to 50% of non-cross dressing men. He also noted that gay men who are transvestites did not cross dress in order to attract other men. His other study focused on the homosexual population. He concluded that 13% of the male population is predominantly homosexual, and that 70% of males have sexual experience with prostitutes. Many researchers now conclude that there were several flaws with the study, first being the representation of the sample. About 25% of the sample were male inmates, and most of them were sex offenders. A large number of the sample population was also homosexual. He excluded black men from the evaluation process, and his sample consisted of volunteer sample and not random sample. Pomeroy himself believed that the sample was coached by Kinsey to provide answers that would support the hypothesis. Current studies conducted by National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control have estimated 3% in homosexual activities. In addition, the University of Chicago in 1990, estimated only 1% of Americans to be homosexual.

Commentary

Pomeroy’s theories on child sexuality are supported by such institutions as SIECUS, Planned Parenthood, and Advocates for Youths. The studies carried out by Kinsey and Pomeroy were helpful in establishing that sexual taboos do not restrict people from expressing their sexuality. Sexuality is a biological function whether it is homosexual, heterosexual, or any other form.

References

Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC). (2002). Retrieved on September 10, 2004 from www.familyaction.org/Articles/article-pgs/kinsey-youth-sex.htm

"Sex education". Retrieved on September 10, 2004 from www.vidahumana.org/english/family/kinsey.html

Social Dynamite. (1993). Retrieved September 10, 2004 from www.visi.com/~contra_m/cm/reviews/cm06_rev_dynamite.html

Pomeroy, W. B. (1972). Dr. Kinsey and the Institute for Sex Research. New York: Harper & Row.

The Making of Sexual and Scientific Revolutions. (1996). Retrieved on September 11, 2004 from www.apa.org/journals/kinsey.html