Read Online College Sex - Philosophy for Everyone: Philosophers With Benefits by Fritz Allhoff, Michael Bruce - Free Book Online
Authors: Fritz Allhoff, Michael Bruce
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nature of human sexuality is not easily bifurcated into two distinct halves, the sexual space between one and five accounted for alternative combinations, with bisex- uality, or something close to it, usually placed around level three. As it turned out, a large portion of Kinsey’s subjects fell somewhere along the spectrum, rather than some clearly marked division between heterosex- ual and homosexual. 3 Results from the Kinsey studies were initially met with surprise and hostility; social norms at mid-century were not quite ready to accept same-sex behavior as part of an ordinary developmental process, much less as part of an ordinary sexual identity, and given that these studies were published in the heyday of McCarthyism, cautious or ambivalent public reception was rather understandable.
Kinsey’s respondents confirmed what social and sexual conservatives of the time feared most, namely that homosexual inclination, more spe- cifically experimentation, was much more prevalent than previously
imagined.The scale was, and continues to be, of great historic significance because it spearheaded the notion that same-sex experimentation forged a commonplace rite of sexual passage for many adolescents and young adults, especially since a significant portion of Kinsey’s sample consisted of college students, as well as college-aged respondents more generally. The key role played by sexual experimentation achieved previously unrecognized cultural or clinical status. Sexual experimentation was gradually being recognized as a crucial ingredient in healthy sexual devel- opment. Of course, this minute achievement did not result in greater social acceptance of homosexuality. Nonetheless, Kinsey’s studies helped reinforce the notion that human sexual behavior is fluid and develop- mental rather than fixed or stagnant. The studies continued to challenge “identity ideologues” and their unhealthy preoccupation with compart- mentalizing human sexuality.
Toward the latter half of the past century and well into the present, a great deal of social, cultural, and academic attention has focused on the prevalence of same-sex experimentation throughout various stages of sex- ual development. With endless questionnaires, statistics, surveys, and studies, there is somewhat of a social and cultural obsession with same-sex experimentation and homoeroticism more generally. In popular culture and the entertainment industry, frequent use of lesbian eroticism caters to widely shared heterosexual male fantasies (Madonna’s infamous nation- ally televised lesbian kiss with Britney Spears comes to mind). Heterosexual pornography commonly features lesbian sex so as to validate sexual desires many heterosexual men have but may never actually experience; entire series depicting drunken college girls “gone wild” on spring break lesbian sexfests are not uncommon. Of course, the heterosexual male’s interest in lesbian sex does not translate into same-sex desire, but exhibits a fetishistic preoccupation with same-sex behavior between women. Though some heterosexual women likewise take an erotic interest in gay sex between men, it is to a much lower extent. The plethora of pornographic material showcasing straight college athletes seduced by gay sex is largely aimed at a gay male audience. Sex plots featuring naïve and desperately cash- strapped college boys coerced into gay sex (i.e., “gay for pay”) similarly function so as to pay homage to pervasive sexual fantasies shared by many gay men. It is no mystery that there is public erotic interest in same-sex experiments at all levels, especially ones encountered by presumably drunk or confused straight college kids.
Despite the march toward increased social acceptance of homosexual- ity throughout the past four decades, there continues to be a great deal
of enchantment or mystery, and to some extent latent repulsion, with same-sex practices. It makes tabloid news when straight-as-a-ruler celeb-
Kinsey’s respondents confirmed what social and sexual conservatives of the time feared most, namely that homosexual inclination, more spe- cifically experimentation, was much more prevalent than previously
imagined.The scale was, and continues to be, of great historic significance because it spearheaded the notion that same-sex experimentation forged a commonplace rite of sexual passage for many adolescents and young adults, especially since a significant portion of Kinsey’s sample consisted of college students, as well as college-aged respondents more generally. The key role played by sexual experimentation achieved previously unrecognized cultural or clinical status. Sexual experimentation was gradually being recognized as a crucial ingredient in healthy sexual devel- opment. Of course, this minute achievement did not result in greater social acceptance of homosexuality. Nonetheless, Kinsey’s studies helped reinforce the notion that human sexual behavior is fluid and develop- mental rather than fixed or stagnant. The studies continued to challenge “identity ideologues” and their unhealthy preoccupation with compart- mentalizing human sexuality.
Toward the latter half of the past century and well into the present, a great deal of social, cultural, and academic attention has focused on the prevalence of same-sex experimentation throughout various stages of sex- ual development. With endless questionnaires, statistics, surveys, and studies, there is somewhat of a social and cultural obsession with same-sex experimentation and homoeroticism more generally. In popular culture and the entertainment industry, frequent use of lesbian eroticism caters to widely shared heterosexual male fantasies (Madonna’s infamous nation- ally televised lesbian kiss with Britney Spears comes to mind). Heterosexual pornography commonly features lesbian sex so as to validate sexual desires many heterosexual men have but may never actually experience; entire series depicting drunken college girls “gone wild” on spring break lesbian sexfests are not uncommon. Of course, the heterosexual male’s interest in lesbian sex does not translate into same-sex desire, but exhibits a fetishistic preoccupation with same-sex behavior between women. Though some heterosexual women likewise take an erotic interest in gay sex between men, it is to a much lower extent. The plethora of pornographic material showcasing straight college athletes seduced by gay sex is largely aimed at a gay male audience. Sex plots featuring naïve and desperately cash- strapped college boys coerced into gay sex (i.e., “gay for pay”) similarly function so as to pay homage to pervasive sexual fantasies shared by many gay men. It is no mystery that there is public erotic interest in same-sex experiments at all levels, especially ones encountered by presumably drunk or confused straight college kids.
Despite the march toward increased social acceptance of homosexual- ity throughout the past four decades, there continues to be a great deal
of enchantment or mystery, and to some extent latent repulsion, with same-sex practices. It makes tabloid news when straight-as-a-ruler celeb-
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