Evolutionary Theories of Marriage and Mating
“All those who have most closely studied the subject, and whose judgment is worth much more than mine, believe that communal marriage was the original and universal form throughout the world, including the intermarriage of brothers and sisters.” Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, Book II, pp. 358-358
The Kinsey Revolution (Alfred Kinsey)
- Grew up in South Orange, NJ
- Classmates predicted as “second Darwin”
- Earned doctorate from Harvard, majoring in animal and plant taxonomy
- Early work on gall wasps, but switched focus to human sexuality in 1930’s
- By 1940’s received funding from the National Academy of Sciences and Rockefeller Foundation for study of human sexuality
- Sexual Behavior in the Human Male released in 1948.
- Reduced sexuality in the “human animal” to the product of normal mammalian biology
- Claimed his research was neutral and value-free, but his comments undercut this claim
- Kinsey’s unorthodox personal life
- Pressured associates to engage in mutual sex
- Engaged in masochistic sexual activities
- Pressured students to submit to invasive interviews
- Hated religion
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