Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests,

behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...

s, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists apply tools from several academic fields, such as anthropology, biology, medicine, psychology, epidemiology, sociology, and

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

. Topics of study include sexual development (puberty), sexual orientation, gender identity,

sexual relationship An intimate relationship is an interpersonal relationship that involves Physical intimacy, physical or emotional intimacy. Although an intimate relationship is commonly a sexual relationship, it may also be a non-sexual relationship involving ...

s, sexual activities, paraphilias, and atypical sexual interests. It also includes the study of sexuality across the lifespan, including child sexuality, puberty, adolescent sexuality, and sexuality among the elderly. Sexology also spans sexuality among those with mental or physical disabilities. The sexological study of sexual dysfunctions and disorders, including

erectile dysfunction Erectile dysfunction (ED), also called impotence, is the type of sexual dysfunction in which the penis fails to become or stay erect during sexual activity. It is the most common sexual problem in men.Cunningham GR, Rosen RC. Overview of male ...

and

anorgasmia Anorgasmia is a type of sexual dysfunction in which a person cannot achieve orgasm despite adequate stimulation. Anorgasmia is far more common in females (4.6 percent) than in males and is especially rare in younger men. The problem is greater in ...

, are also mainstays.

History

Early

Sex manuals have existed since antiquity, such as Ovid's ''

Ars Amatoria The ''Ars amatoria'' ( en, The Art of Love) is an instructional elegy series in three books by the ancient Roman poet Ovid. It was written in 2 AD. Background Book one of ''Ars amatoria'' was written to show a man how to find a woman. In book two ...

'', the '' Kama Sutra'' of Vatsyayana, the ''

Ananga Ranga The ''Ananga Ranga'' ( hi, अनंगरंग, lit=Stage of Love) or ''Kamaledhiplava'' ( hi, link=no, कमलेधिप्लव, lit=Boat in the Sea of Love) is an Indian sex manual written by Kalyana malla in the 15th or 16th century. T ...

'', and '' The Perfumed Garden for the Soul's Recreation''. (''Prostitution in the City of Paris''), an early 1830s study on 3,558 registered prostitutes in Paris, written by Alexander Jean Baptiste Parent-Duchatelet (published in 1837, a year after he died), has been called the first work of modern sex research.Bullough, V. L. (1989). ''The society for the scientific study of sex: A brief history''. Mt. Vernon, Iowa: The Foundation for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. The scientific study of sexual behavior in human beings began in the 19th century with

Heinrich Kaan Heinrich Kaan (russian: link=no, Генрих Каан; 8 February 1816 – 24 May 1893) was a 19th-century physician known for his seminal contributions to early sexology. Different sources identify him as Ruthenians, Ruthenian (an ethnic group l ...

, whose book ''Psychopathia Sexualis'' (1844)

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and how ...

describes as marking "the date of birth, or in any case the date of the emergence of sexuality and sexual aberrations in the psychiatric field." The term ''sexology'' was coined for the first time in the United States by Elizabeth Osgood Goodrich Willard in 1867. Roughly simultaneously a group of homophile activists, not yet identifying themselves as sexologists, were responding to shifts in Europe's national borders, a crisis that brought into conflict laws that were sexually liberal and laws that criminalized behaviors such as homosexual activity.

Victorian era to WWII

Despite the prevailing social attitude of sexual repression in

the Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

, the movement towards sexual emancipation began towards the end of the nineteenth century in England and Germany. In 1886,

Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing (full name Richard Fridolin Joseph Freiherr Krafft von Festenberg auf Frohnberg, genannt von Ebing; 14 August 1840 – 22 December 1902) was a German psychiatrist and author of the foundational work ''Psychopathi ...

published '' Psychopathia Sexualis.'' That work is considered as having established sexology as a scientific discipline.Hoenig, J. (1977). Dramatis personae: Selected biographical sketches of 19th century pioneers in sexology. In J. Money and H. Musaph (Eds.), ''Handbook of Sexology,'' (pp. 21-43). Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press. In England, the founding father of sexology was the doctor and sexologist Havelock Ellis who challenged the

sexual taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

s of his era regarding

masturbation Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinatio ...

and homosexuality and revolutionized the conception of sex in his time. His seminal work was the 1897 ''Sexual Inversion'', which describes the sexual relations of homosexual males, including men with boys. Ellis wrote the first objective study of homosexuality (the term was coined by Karl-Maria Kertbeny), as he did not characterize it as a disease, immoral, or a crime. The work assumes that same-sex love transcended age taboos as well as gender taboos. Seven of his twenty-one case studies are of inter-generational relationships. He also developed other important psychological concepts, such as

autoerotism Autoeroticism or autosexuality is a practice of sexually stimulating oneself, especially one's own body through accumulation of internal stimuli. The term was popularized toward the end of the 19th century by British sexologist Havelock Elli ...

and narcissism, both of which were later developed further by Sigmund Freud. Ellis pioneered transgender phenomena alongside the German Magnus Hirschfeld. He established it as new category that was separate and distinct from homosexuality.Ekins, Richard and King, Dave (2006) ''The transgender phenomenon'', SAGE, , pp. 61-64 Aware of Hirschfeld's studies of transvestism, but disagreeing with his terminology, in 1913 Ellis proposed the term ''sexo-aesthetic inversion'' to describe the phenomenon. In 1908, the first scholarly journal of the field, ''Journal of Sexology'' (''Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft''), began publication and was published monthly for one year. Those issues contained articles by Freud, Alfred Adler, and Wilhelm Stekel.Haeberle, E. J. (1983). ''The birth of sexology: A brief history in documents.'' World Association for Sexology. In 1913, the first academic association was founded: the ''Society for Sexology''. Freud developed a theory of sexuality. These stages of development include: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital. These stages run from infancy to puberty and onwards. based on his studies of his clients, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Wilhelm Reich and

Otto Gross Otto Hans Adolf Gross (17 March 1877 – 13 February 1920) was an Austrian psychoanalyst. A maverick early disciple of Sigmund Freud, he later became an anarchist and joined the utopian Ascona community. His father Hans Gross was a judge turned ...

were disciples of Freud, but rejected his theories because of their emphasis on the role of sexuality in the revolutionary struggle for the emancipation of mankind. Pre-Nazi Germany, under the sexually liberal Napoleonic code, organized and resisted the anti-sexual, Victorian cultural influences. The momentum from those groups led them to coordinate sex research across traditional academic disciplines, bringing Germany to the leadership of sexology. Physician Magnus Hirschfeld was an outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, founding the

Scientific Humanitarian Committee The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (, WhK) was founded by Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin in May 1897, to campaign for social recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and against their legal persecution. It was the first LGBT ...

, the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights. Hirschfeld also set up the first Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sexology) in Berlin in 1919. Its library housed over 20,000 volumes, 35,000 photographs, a large collection of art and other objects. People from around Europe visited the institute to gain a clearer understanding of their

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

and to be treated for their sexual concerns and dysfunctions. Hirschfeld developed a system which identified numerous actual or hypothetical types of sexual intermediary between heterosexual male and female to represent the potential diversity of human sexuality, and is credited with identifying a group of people that today are referred to as transsexual or transgender as separate from the categories of homosexuality, he referred to these people as ''transvestiten'' (transvestites). Germany's dominance in sexual behavior research ended with the Nazi regime. The Institute and its library were destroyed by the Nazis less than three months after they took power, May 8, 1933. The institute was shut down and Hirschfeld's books were burned. Other sexologists in the early gay rights movement included

Ernst Burchard Ernst Burchard (9 September 1876 – 5 February 1920) was a German physician, sexologist, and gay rights advocate and author. Burchard, who was gay, testified as an expert witness in several court cases involving prosecutions on grounds of Parag ...

and

Benedict Friedlaender Benedict Friedlaender (8 July 1866 – 21 June 1908; first name occasionally spelled Benedikt) was a German Jewish sexologist, sociologist, economist, volcanologist, and physicist. Friedlaender was born in Berlin as the son of Carl Friedlae ...

. Ernst Gräfenberg, after whom the G-spot is named, published the initial research developing the

intrauterine device An intrauterine device (IUD), also known as intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD or ICD) or coil, is a small, often T-shaped birth control device that is inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy. IUDs are one form of long-acting rever ...

(IUD).

Post WWII

After World War II, sexology experienced a renaissance, both in the United States and Europe. Large scale studies of sexual behavior, sexual function, and sexual dysfunction gave rise to the development of

sex therapy Sex therapy is a strategy for the improvement of sexual function and treatment of sexual dysfunction. This includes sexual dysfunctions such as premature ejaculation or delayed ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, lack of sexual interest or arousal, ...

. Post-WWII sexology in the U.S. was influenced by the influx of European refugees escaping the Nazi regime and the popularity of the Kinsey studies. Until that time, American sexology consisted primarily of groups working to end

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

and to educate youth about sexually transmitted diseases. Alfred Kinsey founded the

Institute for Sex Research Institute for Sex Research may refer to: * Kinsey Institute, an independent institution associated with Indiana University from 1947 to 2016 *Institut für Sexualwissenschaft The was an early private sexology research institute in Germany from ...

at Indiana University at Bloomington in 1947. This is now called the

Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction (often shortened to The Kinsey Institute) is a research institute at Indiana University. Established in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1947 as a nonprofit, the institute merged with Indi ...

. He wrote in his 1948 book that more was scientifically known about the sexual behavior of farm animals than of humans. Psychologist and sexologist John Money developed theories on sexual identity and gender identity in the 1950s. His work, notably on the David Reimer case has since been regarded as controversial, even while the case was key to the development of treatment protocols for intersex infants and children.

Kurt Freund Kurt Freund (17 January 1914 – 23 October 1996) was a Czech-Canadian physician and sexologist best known for developing the penile plethysmograph (a measurement of sexual arousal in males), research studies in pedophilia, and for the "courtsh ...

developed the penile plethysmograph in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s. The device was designed to provide an objective measurement of

sexual arousal Sexual arousal (also known as sexual excitement) describes the physiological and psychological responses in preparation for sexual intercourse or when exposed to sexual stimuli. A number of physiological responses occur in the body and mind as ...

in males and is currently used in the assessment of pedophilia and hebephilia. This tool has since been used with sex offenders. In 1966 and 1970, Masters and Johnson released their works ''Human Sexual Response'' and ''Human Sexual Inadequacy,'' respectively. Those volumes sold well, and they were founders of what became known as the Masters & Johnson Institute in 1978. Vern Bullough was a historian of sexology during this era, as well as being a researcher in the field. The emergence of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s caused a dramatic shift in sexological research efforts towards understanding and controlling the spread of the disease.

21st century

Technological advances have permitted sexological questions to be addressed with studies using behavioral genetics, neuroimaging, and large-scale Internet-based surveys. Sexology is a regulated profession in some jurisdictions. In Quebec, sexologists must be members of the Ordre professionnel des sexologues du Québec. They are one of the professions eligible to receive

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

permits from the Ordre des psychologues du Québec.

Notable contributors

This is a list of sexologists and notable contributors to the field of sexology, by year of birth: * Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal (1833–1890) *

(1840–1902) *

Albert Eulenburg Albert Eulenburg (10 August 1840 – 3 July 1917) was a German neurologist born in Berlin. Education Born into a Jewish family, he studied medicine at the Universities of Berlin, Bern and Zurich, earning his doctorate in 1861. Among his inst ...

(1840–1917) *

Auguste Henri Forel Auguste-Henri Forel (1 September 1848 – 27 July 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and eugenicist, notable for his investigations into the structure of the human brain and that of ants. For example, he is considered a ...

(1848–1931) * Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) * Wilhelm Fliess (1858–1928) * Havelock Ellis (1858–1939) *

Eugen Steinach Eugen Steinach (28 January 1861 – 14 May 1944) was an Austrian physiologist and pioneer in endocrinology. Steinach played a significant role in discovering the relationship between sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone) and human physical iden ...

(1861–1944) *

Robert Latou Dickinson Robert Latou Dickinson (1861–1950) was an American obstetrician and gynecologist, surgeon, maternal health educator, artist, sculptor and medical illustrator, and research scientist. Early life Robert Latou Dickinson was born on February 21, 1 ...

(1861–1950) * Albert Moll (1862–1939) * Edvard Westermarck (1862–1939) *

Clelia Duel Mosher Clelia Duel Mosher (KLEEL-ya DUE-el MOE-sher; December 16, 1863 – December 21, 1940) was a physician, hygienist and women's health advocate who disapproved of Victorian stereotypes about the physical incapacities of women.Stanford School of M ...

(1863–1940) *

Eugene Wilhelm Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

(aka Numa Praetorius) (1866–1951) * Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935) * Iwan Bloch (1872–1922) * Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde (1873–1937) *

Max Marcuse Max Marcuse (April 14, 1877, BerlinJune 24, 1963, Tel Aviv) was a German dermatologist and sexologist. He became an editor for Magnus Hirschfeld’s '' Journal of Sexology'' in 1919 and continued editing the journal until 1932. Marcuse immigrated t ...

(1877–1963) *

(1877–1920) * Ernst Gräfenberg (1881–1957) *

Bronisław Malinowski Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish-British anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropol ...

(1884–1942) * Harry Benjamin (1885–1986) *

Hans Blüher Hans Blüher (17 February 1888 in Freiburg in Schlesien – 4 February 1955 in Berlin) was a German writer and philosopher. He attained prominence as an early member and "first historian" of the Wandervogel movement. He was aided by his taboo br ...

(1888–1955) * Theodor Reik (1888–1969) * Alfred Kinsey (1894–1956) * Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957) *

Mary Calderone Dr. Mary Steichen Calderone (born Mary Rose Steichen; July 1, 1904 – October 24, 1998) was an American physician, author, public speaker, and public health advocate for reproductive rights and sex education. Known as the "mother of sex education ...

(1904–1998) * Wardell Pomeroy (1913–2001) * Albert Ellis (1913–2007) *

(1914–1996) *

Ernest Borneman Ernst Wilhelm Julius Bornemann (12 April 1915 – 4 June 1995), also known by his self-chosen anglicisation Ernest Borneman, was a German crime writer, filmmaker, anthropologist, ethnomusicologist, psychoanalyst, sexologist, communist agitat ...

(1915–1995) * William Masters (1915–2001) * Gershon Legman (1917–1999) *

Harold I. Lief Harold I. Lief (1917–2007) was an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He was famous as an advocate of sex education. Lief is credited with the introduction in the DSM of the " inhibited sexual desire". Early life and education Lief, who was ...

(1917–2007) *

Paul H. Gebhard Paul Henry Gebhard. Jr. (July 3, 1917 – July 9, 2015) was an American anthropologist and sexologist. Born in Rocky Ford, Colorado, he earned a BS and a PhD from Harvard in 1940 and 1947, respectively. Between the years 1946 and 1956, Gebhard w ...

(1917–2015) * John Money (1921–2006) * Robert Stoller (1924–1991) *

Ira Reiss Ira Leonard Reiss (born 1925) is a sociologist with primary interests in studying the way society impacts sexual attitudes and behaviors and how people respond to those pressures. He also has interests in the study of gender and family, particul ...

(1925–present) * Virginia Johnson (1925–2013) *

Preben Hertoft Preben Hertoft (5 January 1928 – 26 February 2017), was a Danish psychiatrist and professor in medical sexology, senior doctorate in medicine. After the death of his mentor Kirsten Auken, Hertoft worked over 40 years as a sexologist doing re ...

(1928–2017) *

Oswalt Kolle Oswalt Kolle (2 October 1928, in Kiel – 24 September 2010, in AmsterdamOswalt K ...

(1928–2010) * Vern Bullough"Dr. Vern L Bullough Distinguished Professor Natural and Social Sciences"
Retrieved on November 23, 2007. (1928–2006) * Ruth Westheimer (1928–present) *

John Gagnon John H. Gagnon (November 22, 1931 – February 11, 2016) was a pioneering sociologist of human sexuality who wrote and edited 15 books and over 100 articles. He collaborated with William Simon to develop the piece he is perhaps best recognized ...

(1931–2016) *

Fritz Klein Fritz Klein (24 November 1888 – 13 December 1945) was an Austrian Nazi doctor and war criminal, hanged for his role in atrocities at Auschwitz concentration camp and Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during the Holocaust. Early life and educ ...

(1932–2006) * Milton Diamond (1934–present) *

Erwin J. Haeberle Erwin J. Haeberle (30 March 1936 – 1 October 2021) was a German social scientist and sexologist. Biography Haeberle was born on 30 March 1936 in Dortmund, Germany and died in Freiburg, Germany. From 1956 to 1963 he studied drama, German, En ...

(1936–2021) *

Marco Aurelio Denegri Marco Aurelio Denegri Santagadea (16 May 1938 – 27 July 2018) was a Peruvian intellectual, literary critic, television host and sexologist. Early life and education His father was Julio Ernesto Denegri Cornejo - his grandfather was Marco ...

(1938–2018) * Gunter Schmidt (1938–present) *

Rolf Gindorf Rolf Gindorf (14 May 1939 – 26 March 2016) was a German sexologist. He was a member of Mensa. In 1971 he founded the German Society for Social-Scientific Sexuality Research. He received the 2004 Magnus Hirschfeld Medal The Magnus Hirschfeld ...

(1939–2016) *

Volkmar Sigusch Volkmar Sigusch (born 11 June 1940) is a German sexologist, physician and sociologist. From 1973 to 2006, he was the director of the ''Institut für Sexualwissenschaft'' (Institute for Sexual Science) at the clinic of Goethe University in Frankf ...

(1940–present) * Beverly Whipple (1941–present) *

Martin Dannecker Martin Dannecker (born 1942 in Oberndorf am Neckar) is a German sexologist and author. Dannecker was born in Oberndorf am Neckar. After his schooling, he initially entered industrial retailing and later trained as an actor at a theater school in ...

(1942–present) * Shere Hite (1943–2020) * Ray Blanchard (1945–present) *

Pepper Schwartz Pepper Schwartz (born May 11, 1945) is an American sexologist and sociologist teaching at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. She is the author or co-author of numerous books, magazines, and web ...

(1945–present) * Gilbert Herdt (1949–present) *

Pan Suiming Pan Suiming (; born 1950) is a Chinese sexologist and professor at the Renmin University of China who has taught sexology for more than 30 years. He is hailed as "the First Person in Sexology in China". Early life Pan was born in 1950 to an offi ...

(1950–present) * Kenneth Zucker (1950–present) *

Ava Cadell Ava Cadell (born Ildiko Eva Csath; June 15, 1956) is a former actress, writer, producer and currently a therapist and speaker on issues of sexuality. Career Cadell has a doctorate in human behavior from Newport University (California) and a ...

(1955–present) * Carol Queen (1958–present) * James Cantor (1966–present) *

Marta Crawford Marta Crawford is a Portuguese psychologist and author, specialising in clinical sexology. She frequently appears on Portuguese TV to discuss matters related to sexual therapy. Background Marta Crawford was born on 27 April 1969. She has two sist ...

(1969–present) File:Sigmund Freud, by Max Halberstadt (cropped).jpg, Sigmund Freud File:Magnus Hirschfeld 1929.jpg, Magnus Hirschfeld File:Alfred Kinsey 1955.jpg, Alfred Kinsey

References

External links

*
International Society for Sexual Medicine

Archive for Sexology

American Board of Sexology
{{authority control Human sexuality Sexually transmitted diseases and infections