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Alfred Kinsey was a biologist, professor, and “sexologist” who made human sexuality a legitimate scientific field of study. He created the Kinsey Scale and authored the controversial Kinsey Reports. Despite criticism, he was respected for his scientific approach. He died at age 62, leaving a legacy at the Kinsey Institute.
Alfred Charles Kinsey (June 23, 1894 – August 25, 1956) was a renowned biologist, professor of zoology and entomology, and “sexologist” who was a pioneer in his field of expertise. He is responsible for making the subject of human sexuality a legitimate scientific field of study and a less taboo subject. His legacy continues at Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.
Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, and raised in an extremely strict and religious family, Alfred Kinsey was a reserved and hardworking boy. Through high school and college, Kinsey proved to be a hard worker and a focused, driven student. After spending two years in an engineering program at his father’s suggestion, Kinsey chose to pursue the subject he truly loved: biology. He graduated from Bowdoin College with degrees in biology and psychology, magna cum laude. He went on to graduate from the Bussey Institute of Harvard University with a master’s degree.
Kinsey’s first book, An Introduction to Biology, was written in 1926 and is still quoted today. In 1943, Alfred Kinsey co-authored Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North American. In his biology studies, he conducted extensive field research on the gall wasp, which would later help inspire his interest in the study of human sexuality.
Sexology, which Kinsey’s field of study became known, made human sexuality into a subject that could be researched scientifically, just like any other subject. Alfred Kinsey devised the Kinsey Scale which measured sexual orientation on a scale of one to six. Studies of him would be compiled and published in the Kinsey Reports, beginning with Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and later Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953).
Alfred Kinsey was indeed a controversial figure of his era, particularly due to some of his views on human sexuality. One of his beliefs was that delaying marriage, and therefore sex, was psychologically harmful. His openness on taboo subjects such as homosexuality, pedophilia and group sex was highly controversial, with the result that many criticized not only his work but also his character. In general, Kinsey was respected for his scientific and methodical approach to a controversial subject.
In 1921, Alfred Kinsey married Clara McMillen. They had four children, three of whom survived them. When he died at age 62, both his critics and his supporters agreed that he had forever changed the way scientists and the public viewed human sexuality.
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