Sexual Science
The Newsletter of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality
Spring 1999
Volume 40 - Issue 2
From the President
Teaching Human Sexuality in US Universities
The University of Hawaii, like many universities, is in a peculiar position: human sexuality classes are so popular that we turn away hundreds of students each semester. Yet the Social Science Division has never seriously considered establishing a sexuality program, funding a psychology position for a sexuality researcher, or increasing the number of sexuality classes we teach. Nonetheless, like many of you, I have found ways to make sure I get to teach human sexuality in spite of the fact that "officially" I am only responsible for teaching two social psychology seminars and two classes in advanced research methodology. I suspect that the same "tricks" might work for others. These "tricks" have made teaching a lot more fun for both me and the students.
Let's begin with the research methods course. On the first day, in describing how students think up hypothesis, design experiments, analyze data, write up projects, etc., I start with a question -- some question about a "hot" topic in sexuality right now. This semester, for example, I asked: "What do you think ... Do you think that "normal" men and women are entitled to have any sort of wild, outrageous sexual fantasies that they wish, or are there some fantasies that are so "sicko" that they mark someone as bizarre, deviant, a threat to the community?" In Hawaii, many of our students are quite shy. Many come from an Asian community which values grace, respect, and silence. Nonetheless, I suspect that you can guess that in a few seconds the "fantasy" conversation hit all the topics that students love to debate.
This question sparks cultural considerations such as, "Are daydreams that would be considered bizarre in one culture, normal in another?" Gender considerations arise as well, such as, "Should both women and men be allowed to daydream about anything that increases sexual pleasure, politically correct or not?" Other considerations include, "Are some fantasies intrinsically unacceptable and dangerous?" "What about sado-masochism, rape and child molestation?" "What about pornography?" "Is there a difference between the soft-porn of say Candida Royalle and hard-core porn and violence/snuff films?" "What happens when we move to cybersex, virtual reality, interactive sex - when someone could actually "practice" preforming taboo activities?"
As you can see, in a few minutes, one can spark students' interests in a variety of research questions and give them the confidence to propose hypotheses of their own. It is an easy move from that to teaching them the basics of experimental design.
I would, of course love it if there were more Human Sexuality programs in US universities. But until that day comes, I think that there are a variety of ways we can inject our own interests into our own classes and consequently, generate an enthusiasm for research and discovery.
Warmest Regards,
Elaine Hatfield, Ph.D.
Email:
elaineh1@aol.com
Mount Vernon -- A scientific health journal, the Annual Review of Sex Research (ARSR), published by an international organization of sex researchers, educators, and clinicians - The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, has just been selected for inclusion in the prestigious Index Medicus and its online counterpart, MEDLINE.
The announcement was made by Howard J. Ruppel, Jr., Ed.D., Ph.D., Executive Director of The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. Society members represent the U.S. and 30 other countries around the world.
Through the Index Medicus/MEDLINE indexing services, health professionals worldwide are enabled instant, computerized access to the world's preeminent biomedical literature. "The selection is indeed a high honor," states Dr. Raymond C. Rosen, editor of the Annual Review of Sex Research. He continues, "Of the approximately 14,000 biomedical titles currently published worldwide, ARSR is one of only 3,800 selected for inclusion on the basis of scientific merit."
Each volume of the ARSR contains 8-10 comprehensive chapters, authored by leading experts in the field. One professional reviewer states, "... the editor has firmly established the necessity of an integrated and interdisciplinary review of sex research. Each chapter clearly shows that there are many interesting and exciting areas in sexuality in need of exploration and explanation. Some chapters fairly crackle with cutting edge theoretical and practical issues. One will be informed, amused, sometimes outraged perhaps, but rarely bored."
"I cannot recommend this journal highly enough to anyone wishing a fair and representative overview of Sexual Science in the late 1990's. The articles provide an excellent introduction to their respective areas and should be read by all individuals with a serious interest in sex research," states another reviewer.
Index Medicus and MEDLINE are produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the National Institutes of Health located near Washington, DC. The NLM is the world's largest research library devoted to a single scientific or professional field.
Janice M. Epp, Ph.D., President, Western Region
In response to member concern about a major proposed change in SSSS annual meeting policy, the organization recently polled its members. The resulting figures were not widely distributed to members. The Board then passed a new annual meeting policy. To explain their strong dissenting vote on this issue, the Western Region (WR) council submitted the following resolution to the Board, which is reproduced here.
The WR Council wishes to convey its deep distress regarding the Society's recent handling of its annual meetings. Last year, SSSS members were polled regarding their desire for joint annual meetings with AASECT. Unfortunately, it appears as if the Board intends to act contrary to the wishes expressed by members in that poll. We note that:
Thus, the opinions of survey respondents can be assumed to be more heavily weighted in favor of annual joint meetings than the opinions of the entire SSSS membership. This underscores the significance of the 57% and 53% who do NOT want joint meetings annually.
The Council is dismayed that the Board would commission a membership survey on a specific issue and then pursue a policy in direct contradiction of the stated wishes of the members. The fact that the stated wishes of SSSS members are inconvenient for another organization is not a reason for the SSSS Board to pursue a policy that ignores those wishes. The WR Council does not understand why the survey was initiated if the Board does not intend to follow the members' mandate--which was, presumably, the reason the survey was commissioned.
The Council, while supportive of the educational and certifying mission of AASECT, recognizes with great pride the critical mission of SSSS-the scientific study of sexuality. Given the these contrasting missions, combining the annual meetings diminishes the scientific quality of SSSS meetings.
The Council urges the Board to follow the wishes of the members it has so recently polled in instituting an annual meeting policy. Furthermore, the Council resolves to continue meeting the stated wishes of WR members by producing creative, scientifically relevant regional meetings.
We are currently soliciting more detailed feedback from WR members via a survey in meeting packets and will keep the membership at large apprised of our progress.
[Direct email responses to author are welcomed: DrJanice@aol.com]
Wired
Sexuality Related Websites of Interest . . .
The Archive for Sexology
The mission of this site is to promote, protect and preserve sexual health through original research and by collecting, analyzing and disseminating scientific information from other sources. It contains four sections: History of Sexology, Worldwide Directory, Courses in Sexology and Other Websites in Sexology. It is directed by SSSS member, Erwin Haeberle of Germany and is available in English & Spanish. The URL is:
http://www.rki.de/GESUND/ARCHIV/HOME.HTM
The Emergency Contraception Hotline
This site provides information about emergency contraception as well as providing information on its proper usage. The URL is:
Jackin' World
A fun and very educational website dealing with the topic of masturbation. The site provides easy to understand anatomical drawings of both male and female reproductive systems as well as actual how-to instructions. Includes a parental notification of what kids will be seeing and reading while at this site. Their URL is:
American Sociological Association (ASA)
The ASA has a Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender and a Section on Sociology of Sexualities. The website includes funding opportunities and an annotated list of publicly available data sources. Many of the data sets are related to the study of sexuality, such as the General Social Survey, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and various CDC surveys. The URL is:
Ask NOAH About Sexuality
This website offers a whole section about sexuality in Spanish. Topics include, The Truth About Latex Condoms, Sexual Orientation and Identity, Sexuality Education in the Schools: Issues and Answers, Voluntary Sterilization, HIV/AIDS, Adolescents and Abstinence. The URL is:
http://www.noah.cuny.edu/sexuality/sexuality.html
Briefly Noted
New Resource Available
Handbook of Sexuality - Related Measures
Edited
By Clive M. Davis, William L. Yarber, Robert Bauserman, George Schreer, & Sandra
L. Davis
1998 (July) - $99.95/hard cover
This is a must have handbook for sex educators, counselors, therapists and researchers who study sexuality issues. It contains more than 200 instruments to assist researchers in evaluating, measuring and assessing human sexual expression. It is an easy-to-use resource with instruments relating to more than 50 human sexuality topics. To order, contact:
SAGE
Publications, Inc.
2455 Teller Road
Thousand Oaks, CA 91320-2218
Ph.
805-499-9774
FAX 805-499-0871
Free Resource Available
Ten Tips for Parents
The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy developed this brochure to help parents become "askable" and confident in their explanations regarding values and sexuality. It includes listing of books, pamphlets, videos and websites to further assist parents. To get your free copy contact:
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Phone:
202-857-8655
Website: www.teenpregnancy.org
SSSS Midcontinent Region Annual Conference - Masturbation & Fantasy: Implications for Sexual Health, May 20-23, 1999, Madison, Wisconsin. Contact: Richard Keeling, M.D., University of Wisconsin/Health Services, 1552 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, USA. Phone: 608-262-1885 / Email: rkeeling@facstaff.wisc.edu
3rd Annual National Symposium on Overcoming Barriers to Condom Use, June 1-2, 1999, New York University, New York. Contact: PPSI, 101 Lucas Valley Road, Suite 210-E, San Rafael, California 94903 USA. Phone: 415-479-8628 / Email: PPSI@aol.com
21st Annual Guelph Conference & Training Institute on Sexuality - Sexuality: Relationships & Health, June 7-16, 1999, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Contact: Karen Maki, 160 Johnson Hall, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada. Phone: 519-824-4120, ext. 3412 / Email: kmaki@open.uoguelph.ca / Website: www.open.uoguelph.ca/sexconf
International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Society & Culture - Sexual Diversity & Human Rights Conference, July 22-24, 1999, Manchester, England. Contact: Gail Hawkes, Dept. of Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Geoffrey Manton Bldg., Rosamond Street West, Manchester M15 6LL, United Kingdom. Phone: +44-0-161-247-3464 / Email: g.hawkes@mmu.ac.uk
25th Annual Meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research, June 23-26, 1999, Stony Brook, New York. Contact: Kenneth Zucker. Email: zucker@cs.clarke-inst.on.ca
27th Annual Workshop on Sexuality at Thornfield, July 26 - August 1, 1999, Thornfield Conference Center, Cazenovia, New York. Intensive sexuality workshop for new and experienced professionals in the sexuality field, includes a 5-day SAR (sexual attitude reassessment) and is limited to 60 persons. For more information contact Carol Dopp. Phone: 703-761-1398
46th Annual Star Island Conference - Sexuality & Human Nature: A Scientific, Religious, & Moral Exploration, July 31 - August 7, 1999. Contact: Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, Inc. Website: www.iras.org/conferences.html
XIV World Congress of Sexology - Sexuality in the New Millennium, August 23-27, 1999, Hong Kong, China. For program and registration information contact: The Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong, 4/F./, Duke of Windsor Social Service Building, 15 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong. Phone: 852-2527-8898 / FAX: 852-2866-7530 / Email: sigfmshk@netvigator.com / Website: www.glink.net.hk/~hksea/was/
Association of Reproductive Health Professionals Annual Clinical Conferences - Adolescent Reproductive Health Ô99, September 22-23, 1999 and Reproductive Health Ô99, September 23-25, 1999, Dallas, Texas. Contact Conference Coordinator: Amy Swann. Phone: 877-444-ARHP / Website: www.arhp.org
The 1999 Joint Meeting of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) and the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS) - The Context of Sexuality: The 20th Century, November 3-7, 1999, St. Louis, Missouri. For more information contact a Program Co-Chair: Helen "Ginger" Bush, M.S.W., 1515 N. Federal Hwy Ste 300, Boca Raton, FL 33432, USA. Phone: 561-736-1340 / FAX: 561-737-0756 OR Charlene Muehlenhard, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychology, Univ. of Kansas/426 Fraser Hall, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-2160, USA. Phone: 913-864-4121 / Email: charlene@stat1.cc.ukans.edu