Liz Brown“Sex science” isn't some bullshit term a lab geek came up with to justify writing off porn on his taxes. Sexology, the scientific study of human sexuality, has been around for almost 200 years.
Most researchers face some sort of resistance when their studies uncover controversial results, but sexologists face a unique set of challenges in their quest to flesh out of the science of bumping uglies.
Telling people the Earth isn't the center of the universe probably went over a whole lot smoother than telling them that women don't need men to have orgasms. Even in today's vag-flashing, boob-sexting, wiener-tweeting culture, scientific sex studies from decades ago are still getting people's panties in a twist.
Here are 5 of the most controversial studies in the history of sex research:
1. Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves
In 1976, sexologist Shere Hite published The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality which revealed that 70 percent of women didn't have orgasms during intercourse.
Hite posited that the in-and-out thrusting process of sexual intercourse didn't provide the right kind clitoral stimulation, since those same women reported getting off just fine when they took matters into their own hands and masturbated.
The revelation didn't just mean vindication for millions of women previously categorized as sexually dysfunctional. It also blew the lid off of one of the greatest underground actress guilds in the world: the orgasm fakers.
Yes sweetie, of COURSE I'm one of the 30% of women who orgasms during sex. Really.
2. Everything by Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Kinsey was the first respected sex researcher to employ the “Kim-and-Ray-J” scientific method. Kinsey frequently slept with his fellow researchers and filmed it to gain greater insight into the sexual process. He was also one of the first sex scientists to present evidence normalizing homosexuality. The element of his research that still draws the most fire, though, is his report on childhood sexual response.
It wasn't just the revelation that most people didn't wait until their 18th birthday to start jacking off that creeped people out. It was Kinsey's methodology. While the majority of Kinsey's information on childhood sexual response came from people sharing their own memories of sexual experiences from their youth, at least one study participant shared information about sexually abusing children in the past.
More than 50 years after his death, Kinsey is still lambasted for including this data in his study.
3. The Two-Week Homo Cure
It's probably not a shocker that Marcus Bachmann didn't come up with the idea of curing gay people all by himself, but did you know he had help from two of the most respected names in sex science history?
In 1979, Masters and Johnson released their study “Homosexuality in Perspective” in which they claim to have developed a two-week intensive therapy that “cured” 71 percent of the homosexuals they treated.
Recent investigations into the study show no proof of any successful conversion cases. In fact, they show no records of any of the successfully “cured” patients, period. In an 2009 interview with Scientific American magazine, Virginia Johnson stated she believes her late husband may have fabricated the reports entirely.
4. Size Matters
Masters and Johnson stated that the size of a man's Johnson had no effect on women's sexual enjoyment, since the vaginas merely adapted to penis size. (Of course. Because we're always the ones who have to adapt, right?)
A 2001 study by Russell Eisenman suggested otherwise. In a study of undergraduate females, 100 percent of respondents stated that all penises don't feel the same and 90 percent of respondents said that penises with greater width increased their sexual pleasure.
So the motion in the ocean IS important, but it's also nice if you've got a 50-foot yacht.
5. Spermatazo-loft
In 2002, a SUNY college study of 293 women showed that those who had unprotected sex with men experienced significant boosts in their moods. Researchers specifically attributed the improvements to the semen women soaked up through their vaginal walls.
Apparently, in addition to sperm, semen contains ingredients that offer a temporary mood boost — like giving your vagina a shot of cum-bucha.
Guess who wasn't thrilled with the study? Every public health advocate on the planet. Antidepressant manufacturers probably weren't thrilled either. Semen is available without a prescription, and you can get a “refill” pretty much anywhere.
Read more about the study here!
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