View source for Alfred Kinsey

{{Short description|American scientist (1894–1956)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image = Alfred Kinsey 1955.jpg
| caption = Kinsey in [[Frankfurt]], November 1955
| birth_name = Alfred Charles Kinsey
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|6|23}}
| birth_place = [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|8|25|1894|6|23}}
| death_place = [[Bloomington, Indiana]], U.S.
| spouse = {{Marriage|[[Clara McMillen]]|1921}}
| children = 4
| field = [[Biology]]
| work_institution = [[Indiana University Bloomington]]
| education = {{ubl|[[Bowdoin College]]|[[Harvard University]] ([[Doctor of Science|ScD]])}}
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students =
| known_for  = {{Tree list}}
* [[Sexology]] and [[human sexuality]]
** [[Kinsey Reports]]
** [[Kinsey scale]]
** [[Kinsey Institute]]
{{Tree list/end}}
| prizes =
}}
'''Alfred Charles Kinsey''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɪ|n|z|i}}; June 23, 1894 – August 25, 1956) was an American [[sexologist]], [[biologist]], and professor of [[entomology]] and [[zoology]] who, in 1947, founded the Institute for Sex Research at [[Indiana University Bloomington|Indiana University]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Learn our history |url=https://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/history/index.php |website=The Kinsey Institute |access-date=July 1, 2017 |archive-date=April 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425061316/https://kinseyinstitute.org/about/history/index.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> now known as the [[Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction]]. He is best known for writing ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' (1948) and ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' (1953), also known as the [[Kinsey Reports]], as well as for the [[Kinsey scale]]. Kinsey's research on [[human sexuality]], foundational to the field of [[sexology]], provoked controversy in the 1940s and 1950s, and has continued to provoke controversy decades after his death.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spector |first=Dina |date=18 October 2013 |title=Why Kinsey's Research Remains Even More Controversial Than The 'Masters Of Sex' |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/why-alfred-kinsey-was-controversial-2013-10 |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=March 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327065053/http://www.businessinsider.com/why-alfred-kinsey-was-controversial-2013-10 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Fisher |first=Marc |date=1995-12-08 |title=Kinsey Report, Fast and Loose? |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/12/08/kinsey-report-fast-and-loose/b058e754-34c5-4c62-87fb-7ee1cd42d625/ |access-date=2022-12-10 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=April 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423005655/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/12/08/kinsey-report-fast-and-loose/b058e754-34c5-4c62-87fb-7ee1cd42d625/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Crain |first=Caleb |date=2004-10-03 |title=Alfred Kinsey: Liberator or Pervert? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/movies/alfred-kinsey-liberator-or-pervert.html |access-date=2022-12-10 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516100700/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/movies/alfred-kinsey-liberator-or-pervert.html |url-status=live }}</ref> His work has influenced social and cultural values in the United States and United Kingdom as well as internationally.

==Early life and education==
{{More citations needed|section|date=January 2024}}
Alfred Kinsey was born on June 23, 1894, in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], the son of Sarah Ann ({{née}} Charles) and Alfred Seguine Kinsey.<ref name=Timeline>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/kinsey-timeline/ |title=American Experience &#124; Kinsey &#124; Timeline |publisher=PBS |access-date=April 15, 2014}}</ref> He was the eldest of three children. His mother received little formal education; his father was a professor at [[Stevens Institute of Technology]].

Kinsey's parents were devout Christians. His father was known as one of the most devout members of the local [[Methodism|Methodist]] church. Most of Kinsey's social interactions were with other members of the church, often as a silent observer, while his parents discussed religion.<ref>{{cite web|title=American Experience &#124; Kinsey &#124; People & Events|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/kinsey-alfred-charles-kinsey/|access-date=December 4, 2013|publisher=PBS|archive-date=June 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620164002/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/kinsey-alfred-charles-kinsey/|url-status=live}}</ref> Kinsey's father imposed strict rules on the household, including mandating Sunday as a day of prayer and little else.

Kinsey's parents were poor for most of his childhood, often unable to afford proper medical care. This may have led to a young Kinsey receiving inadequate treatment for a variety of diseases including [[rickets]], [[rheumatic fever]], and [[typhoid fever]]. His health records indicate that Kinsey received suboptimal exposure to sunlight (often the cause of rickets, before milk and other foods were fortified with [[vitamin D]]) and lived in unsanitary conditions for at least part of his childhood. Rickets led to a curvature of the spine, which resulted in a slight stoop that prevented Kinsey from being [[The Draft|drafted]] in 1917 for [[World War I]].

At age 10, Kinsey moved with his family to [[South Orange, New Jersey]].<ref name=Timeline/> Also at a young age, he showed great interest in nature and camping. He worked and camped with the local [[YMCA]] throughout his early years, and enjoyed these activities to such an extent that he intended to work for the YMCA after completing his education. Kinsey's senior undergraduate thesis for psychology, a dissertation on the [[group dynamics]] of young boys, echoed this interest. He joined the [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]] when a troop was formed in his community. His parents strongly supported this (and joined as well) because the Boy Scouts was an organization that was based on the principles of Christianity. Kinsey worked his way up through the Scouting ranks to earn [[Eagle Scout rank (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] in 1913, making him one of the earliest Eagle Scouts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/kinsey-alfred-charles-kinsey/ |title=Alfred Charles Kinsey (1894–1956) |access-date=November 9, 2006 |work=American Experience: Kinsey |publisher=PBS| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061221010804/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kinsey/peopleevents/p_kinsey.html| archive-date= December 21, 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> Despite earlier disease having weakened his heart, Kinsey followed an intense sequence of difficult hikes and camping expeditions throughout his early life.

In high school, Kinsey was a quiet but hard-working student. While attending [[Columbia High School (New Jersey)|Columbia High School]], he devoted his energy to academic work and playing the piano. At one time, Kinsey had hoped to become a concert pianist, but decided to concentrate on his scientific pursuits instead. Kinsey's ability to spend immense amounts of time deeply focused on study was a trait that would serve him well in college and during his professional career. He seems not to have formed strong social relationships during high school, but earned respect for his academic ability. While there, Kinsey became interested in [[biology]], [[botany]] and [[zoology]]. Kinsey was later to claim that his high school biology teacher, Natalie Roeth, was the most important influence on his decision to become a scientist.

Kinsey approached his father with plans to study botany at college. His father demanded that he study engineering at [[Stevens Institute of Technology]] instead. At Stevens, he primarily took courses related to English and engineering, but was unable to satisfy his interest in biology. Kinsey was not successful there, and decided engineering was not a field at which he could excel. At the end of two years at Stevens, Kinsey gathered the courage to confront his father about his interest in biology and his intent to continue studying at [[Bowdoin College]] in Brunswick, Maine, where he majored in biology.<ref>Newton, David E. Sexual Health: A Reference Handbook page 133</ref>

==Initial research on entomology==
In the fall of 1914, Kinsey entered Bowdoin College, where he studied [[entomology]] under Manton Copeland, and was admitted to the [[Zeta Psi]] fraternity, in whose house he lived for much of his time at college.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weinberg |first=Martin S. |year=1976 |title=Sex Research: Studies from the Kinsey Institute |page=25 |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gathorne-Hardy |first=Jonathan |year=2000 |title=Sex, the Measure of All Things: A Life of Alfred C. Kinsey |pages=37–38 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington, IN |isbn=0-253-33734-8}}</ref> In 1916 Kinsey was elected to the [[Phi Beta Kappa]] society and graduated [[magna cum laude]], with degrees in [[biology]] and [[psychology]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Christenson |first=Cornelia V. |year=1971 |title=Kinsey: A Biography |page=29 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington, IN }}</ref> Alfred Seguine Kinsey did not attend his son's graduation ceremony at Bowdoin, possibly as another sign of disapproval of his son's choice of career and studies.

Kinsey continued his graduate studies at [[Harvard University]]'s [[Bussey Institute]], which had one of the most highly regarded biology programs in the United States. It was there that Kinsey studied applied biology under [[William Morton Wheeler]], a scientist who made outstanding contributions to [[entomology]]. Under Wheeler, Kinsey worked almost completely autonomously, which suited both men quite well.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

[[File:Atrusca brevipennata imported from iNaturalist photo 177598458 on 25 October 2023.jpg|thumb|left|[[oak apple|Oak-apple]] galls induced by ''[[Atrusca brevipennata]]'', one of the wasp species first described by Kinsey]]
Kinsey wrote his doctoral thesis on [[gall wasp]]s, zealously collecting samples of the species. He traveled widely and took 26 detailed measurements of hundreds of thousands of gall wasps; his methodology was itself an important contribution to entomology as a science. In 1919, Kinsey was awarded an [[Doctor of Science|Sc.D]] from [[Harvard University]], and he accepted an academic post in biology at Indiana University. In 1920 he published several papers under the auspices of the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in New York City, introducing the gall wasp to the scientific community and describing its [[phylogeny]]. Of the more than 18&nbsp;million insects in the museum's collection, some 5&nbsp;million are gall wasps collected by Kinsey.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yudell |first=Michael |title=Kinsey's Other Report |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_6_108/ai_55127889 |journal=Natural History |issn=0028-0712 |date=July 1, 1999 |volume=108 |issue=6 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516101949/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_6_108/ai_55127889 |archive-date=May 16, 2008 }}</ref>

Kinsey wrote a widely used high-school textbook, ''An Introduction to Biology'', which was published in October 1926.<ref>{{cite book|title=Kinsey, A Biography|first=Cornelia V.|last=Christenson|year=1971|location=Bloomington, IN |publisher=Indiana University Press|page=57|isbn=0-253-14625-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.textbookhistory.com/?p=21 |title=If Kinsey's Textbook Could Talk ... |publisher=Textbook History |date=March 28, 2010 |access-date=December 4, 2013 |archive-date=March 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320081358/http://www.textbookhistory.com/?p=21 |url-status=live }}</ref> The book endorsed [[evolution]] and unified, at the introductory level, the previously separate fields of zoology and botany.
 {{blockquote|''An Introduction to Biology'' was unlike any other textbook on the market&nbsp;... Kinsey's textbook was noteworthy for the strong position it took on evolution&nbsp;... In his textbook Kinsey laid out the basic facts of evolution in a manner-of-fact matter, as though he were discussing the life cycle of the fruit fly.&nbsp;... The chapter called "Further Evidence of Change" was especially blunt&nbsp;... Kinsey defined evolution as "the scientific word for change", and while he acknowledged that there are some people who "think they don't believe in evolution", he tried to show his students the folly of such reasoning. To find proof of evolution, students had only to look at things they used daily&nbsp;... Kinsey ridiculed the man who denounced evolution but owned a new breed of dog or smoked a cigar made from a recently improved variety of tobacco, saying, "When he says he doesn't believe in evolution, I wonder what he means."<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones |first=James H. | title=Alfred C. Kinsey: A Life |year=2004 |location = New York| publisher=W. W. Norton and Co. | pages=188–189}}</ref> }}
Kinsey co-authored ''Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America'', published in 1943, with [[Merritt Lyndon Fernald]]. The original draft of the book was written in 1919–1920, while Kinsey was still a doctoral student at the Bussey Institute, and Fernald was working at the [[Arnold Arboretum]].<ref>Del Tredici, Peter. "The Other Kinsey Report". ''[[Natural History (magazine)|Natural History]]'', ISSN 0028-0712, July 1, 2006, vol. 115, issue 6.</ref>

== Sexology ==

=== The Kinsey Reports ===
{{main|Kinsey Reports}}
[[File:Front row (left to right)- Cornelia V. Christenson; Mrs. Leser; Clyde E. Martin. Arranged on steps (left to right)- Mrs. Brown; Paul H. Gebhard; William Dellenback; Alfred E. Kinsey; Wardell B. (5493916199).jpg|thumb|Kinsey (center) with staff of the Institute for Sexual Research, later renamed the [[Kinsey Institute]]]]
[[File:Alfred Kinsey-TIME-1953.jpg|thumb|Alfred Kinsey on the [[List of covers of Time magazine (1950s)|cover of ''Time'']] in 1953]]
Kinsey is widely regarded as the first major figure in American [[sexology]]; his research helped pave the way for a deeper exploration into sexuality among sexologists and the general public, as well as liberating [[Human female sexuality|female sexuality]].<ref name="Irvine">{{cite book|title=Disorders of Desire: Sexuality and Gender in Modern American Sexology|isbn= 978-1592131518|publisher=[[Temple University Press]]|year=2005|pages=37–43|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uIJXT7ZCTCsC&pg=PA37|author=Irvine, Janice M. }}</ref><ref name="Zastrow">{{cite book | first= Charles| last= Zastrow|author-link=Charles Zastrow|title = Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare: Empowering People | publisher =[[Cengage Learning]]|year= 2007|pages=227–228| isbn = 978-0495095101 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tco4YjyZab4C&pg=PT248}}</ref> For example, Kinsey's work disputed the notions that women generally are not sexual and that female [[orgasm]]s experienced [[vagina]]lly are superior to [[Clitoris|clitoral]] orgasms.<ref name="Irvine"/><ref name="Zastrow"/> He initially became interested in different forms of sexual practices in 1933, after discussing the topic extensively with a colleague, Robert Kroc. Kinsey had been studying the variations in mating practices among [[gall wasp]]s. During this time, he developed a scale measuring sexual orientation, now known as the [[Kinsey scale]], which ranges from 0 to 6, where 0 is exclusively [[heterosexuality|heterosexual]] and 6 is exclusively [[homosexuality|homosexual]]; a rating of X for "no socio-sexual contacts or reactions" was later added.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

In 1935, Kinsey delivered a lecture to a faculty discussion group at Indiana University, his first public discussion of the topic, wherein he attacked the "widespread ignorance of sexual structure and physiology" and promoted his view that "delayed marriage" (that is, delayed sexual experience) was psychologically harmful. Kinsey obtained research funding from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]], which enabled him to further study human sexual behavior.<ref>, Jones, James H. Alfred C. Kinsey: A Life WW Norton New York, New York pages 441–445</ref> He published ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' in 1948, followed in 1953 by ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'', both of which reached the top of the bestseller lists and turned Kinsey into a celebrity. These publications later became known as the Kinsey Reports. Articles about him appeared in magazines such as ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'', and ''[[McCall's]]''. The Kinsey Reports, which led to a storm of controversy, are regarded by many as a precursor to the [[sexual revolution]] of the 1960s and 1970s.

=== Controversies ===
Kinsey's research went beyond theory and interview to include observation of and participation in sexual activity, sometimes involving co-workers. Kinsey justified this sexual experimentation as being necessary to gain the confidence of his research subjects. He encouraged his staff to do likewise, and to engage in a wide range of sexual activity, to the extent that they felt comfortable; he argued that this would help his interviewers understand the participants' responses.<ref name="Vern1">{{cite journal|first=Vern L.|last=Bullough|title=Book Review "Alfred C. Kinsey: Sex the Measure of All Things; A Biography"|journal=Journal of Sex Research|date=August 1, 1999|doi=10.1080/00224499909552001|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Alfred+C.+Kinsey:+Sex+the+Measure+of+All+Things%3B+A+Biography.%28Review%29-a061487453|volume=36|pages=306–315|access-date=May 24, 2010|archive-date=December 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003336/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Alfred+C.+Kinsey:+Sex+the+Measure+of+All+Things%3B+A+Biography.%28Review%29-a061487453|url-status=dead|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Vern2">{{cite journal|first=Vern L.|last=Bullough|title=The Kinsey biographies|journal=Sexuality & Culture|issue=1|date=March 1, 2006|volume=10|pages=15–22|doi=10.1007/s12119-006-1002-8|s2cid=144490686}}</ref> Kinsey filmed sexual acts which included co-workers in the attic of his home as part of his research;<ref name="pbs">{{cite web|title=Kinsey Establishes the Institute for Sex Research|work=American Experience: Kinsey|publisher=PBS|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kinsey/peopleevents/e_institute.html|access-date=January 3, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080121074608/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kinsey/peopleevents/e_institute.html| archive-date= January 21, 2008 | url-status= dead}}</ref> Biographer [[Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy]] explains that this was done to ensure the films' secrecy, which would have caused a scandal had it become public knowledge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/publications/column2.html |title=The Kinsey Institute – [Publications&#93; |publisher=Indiana.edu |access-date=December 4, 2013 |archive-date=January 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102044031/http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/publications/column2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/publications/duberman.html |title=The Kinsey Institute – [Publications&#93; |publisher=Indiana.edu |date=November 3, 1997 |access-date=December 4, 2013 |archive-date=October 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002092924/http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/publications/duberman.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> James H. Jones, author of ''Alfred C. Kinsey: A Public/Private Life'', and British psychiatrist [[Theodore Dalrymple|Anthony Malcolm Daniels aka Theodore Dalrymple]], among others, have speculated that Kinsey was driven by his own sexual needs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=James H.|title=Alfred C. Kinsey: A Public/Private Life|year=1997|publisher=Norton|location=New York|isbn=0-393-04086-0|edition=1.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/alfredckinseypub00jone}}</ref>

Some of the data published in the two ''Kinsey Reports'' books is controversial in the scientific and psychiatric communities, owing to Kinsey's decision to interview volunteers who may not have been representative of the general population.<ref name="Boothe">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/50-years-after-the-kinsey-report/|title=50 Years After The Kinsey Report|first=Boothe|last=Cosgrove-Mather|publisher=Associated Press, CBS News|date=January 27, 2003|access-date=April 4, 2014|archive-date=May 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511080720/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/50-years-after-the-kinsey-report/|url-status=live}}</ref>  University of Chicago sociology professor [[Edward Laumann]] also argued that Kinsey's work was focused on the biology of sex and lacked psychological and clinical information and analysis.<ref name="Boothe" />

Kinsey collected sexual material from around the world, which brought him to the attention of the U.S. Customs Service when they seized some pornographic films in 1956; he died before this matter was resolved legally.<ref name="pbs"/> Kinsey wrote about pre-adolescent orgasms using data in tables 30 to 34 of the male volume, which report observations of orgasms in over 300 children aged from two months up to fifteen years.<ref name="kinsey-tables">{{cite book|title= Sexual Behavior in the Human Male  |last= Kinsey|first= Alfred Charles|author2=Clyde Eugene Mart|year= 1998 |orig-year=1948|publisher=Indiana University Press|pages=178–180 |isbn= 0-253-33412-8}}</ref> This information was said to have come from adults' childhood memories, or from parent or teacher observation.<ref name="kinsey-inst">{{cite web|url=http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/controversy%202.htm |title=Kinsey Institute statement denies child abuse in study |publisher=Kinseyinstitute.org |access-date=December 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123084849/http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/controversy%202.htm |archive-date=January 23, 2013 }}</ref> Kinsey said he also interviewed nine men who had sexual experiences with children and who told him about the children's responses and reactions. Little attention was paid to this part of Kinsey's research at the time, but where Kinsey had gained this information began to be questioned nearly 40 years later.<ref name="BeyondBed">{{cite news | last = Brown| first = Mick | title = The bedroom and beyond | work=[[The Age]] | date = November 13, 2004 | url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/11/12/1100227565498.html | access-date = December 7, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091202074932/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/11/12/1100227565498.html| archive-date= December 2, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> It was later revealed that Kinsey used data from a single pedophile and presented it as being from various sources. Kinsey knew the abuse would continue but had seen the need for participant confidentiality and anonymity as necessary to gain "honest answers on such taboo subjects".<ref>{{cite news|last = Welsh-Huggins|first = Andrews|title = Conservative group attacks Kinsey data on children|work = [[The Herald-Times]]|date = September 1995|url = http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/1995/09/06/archive.19950906.b0c15bb.sto|quote = 'There couldn't have been any research if we turned them in,' he said. 'Of course we knew when we interviewed pedophiles that they would continue the activity, but we didn't do anything about that.' Providing such absolute assurances of anonymity was the only way to guarantee honest answers on such taboo subjects, said Gebhard.|access-date = January 9, 2008|archive-date = May 13, 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130513184522/http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/1995/09/06/archive.19950906.b0c15bb.sto|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name="Pool">{{cite news|last=Pool |first=Gary |title=Sex, science, and Kinsey: a conversation with Dr. John Bancroft – head of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction |work=[[The Humanist]]|date=September–October 1996 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1374/is_n5_v56/ai_18640605/pg_1 |access-date=January 7, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327222948/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1374/is_n5_v56/ai_18640605/pg_1 |archive-date=March 27, 2008 }}</ref>  Years later, the Kinsey Institute said that the data on children in tables 31–34 came from one man's journal (started in 1917) and that the events concerned predated the Kinsey Reports.<ref name="Pool"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/cont-akchild.html |title=Kinsey Institute director denies allegations by Reisman |publisher=Kinseyinstitute.org |access-date=December 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212143625/http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/about/cont-akchild.html |archive-date=February 12, 2014 }}</ref>

These allegations have been revived by a political fight inside the [[Indiana State Senate]], but the opposition complained that "These are warmed over Internet memes that keep coming back."<ref name="Indiana Capital Chronicle 2023">{{cite web | first=Whitney | last=Downard | title=House votes to strip IU's Kinsey Institute of state funding | website=Indiana Capital Chronicle | date=23 February 2023 | url=https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/briefs/house-votes-to-strip-ius-kinsey-institute-of-state-funding/ | access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="AP NEWS 2023">{{cite web | first=Tom | last=Davies | title=Indiana lawmakers back defunding Kinsey sex institute | website=AP NEWS | date=22 February 2023 | url=https://apnews.com/article/indiana-state-government-bloomington-98bdb1ae5e6441b6c756f153639726ae | access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref> [[IndyStar]] remarked "They cited long-held but largely debunked allegations about the work of Alfred Kinsey...".<ref name="IndyStar 2023 w873">{{cite web | first=Cate | last=Charron | title=The Indianapolis Star | website=IndyStar | date=31 May 2023 | url=https://eu.indystar.com/story/news/local/indianapolis/2023/05/31/indiana-university-iu-kinsey-institute-state-funding-revoked-what-will-happen/70224680007/ | access-date=2 August 2023}}</ref>

Jones wrote that Kinsey's sexual activity influenced his work, that he over-represented prisoners and prostitutes, classified some single people as "married",<ref name="Jones">Jones, James H. (1997). Alfred C. Kinsey: A Public/Private Life. New York: Norton.</ref> and that he included a disproportionate number of homosexual men, which may have distorted his studies.<ref name="Vern1"/><ref name="Vern2"/> While he has been criticized for omitting African-Americans from his research,<ref name="Reumann0">{{cite journal|last = Reumann|first = Miriam|title = American Sexual Character: Sex, Gender, and National Identity in the Kinsey Reports|journal = Archives of Sexual Behavior|volume = 36|issue = 5|page = 294|publisher = Springer Netherlands|location = University of California Press, Berkeley|year = 2005|doi=10.1007/s10508-007-9230-z |s2cid = 189871726}}</ref> his report on the human male includes numerous references to African-American participants.{{sfn|Reumann|2005|page=24}}  Historian [[Vern Bullough]] writes that the data was later reinterpreted, excluding prisoners and data derived from an exclusively gay sample, and the results indicate that it does not appear to have skewed the data. Kinsey may have over-represented homosexuals, but Bullough considers that this may have been because homosexual behavior was stigmatized and needed to be better understood.<ref name="Vern1"/><ref name="Vern2"/>  [[Paul Gebhard]], who was Kinsey's colleague from 1946 to 1956 and who also succeeded Kinsey as Director of the Kinsey Institute following his death,<ref name=gebhardrelia>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/gebhard.htm|title=New River Media Interview With: Paul Gebhard Colleague of Alfred Kinsey 1946–1956 Former Director of the Kinsey Institute|author=New River Media|publisher=PBS.org|access-date=October 27, 2014|archive-date=July 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717090513/http://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/gebhard.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> attempted to justify Kinsey's work in the 1970s by removing some of the suspect data where Kinsey allegedly showed a bias towards homosexuality.<ref name=gebhardrelia />  After Gebhard recalculated the findings in Kinsey's work, he found only slight differences between the original and updated figures.<ref>Gathorne-Hardy, Jonathan (2005). ''Kinsey: A Biography'', p 285. London: Pimlico</ref>

Bailey et al., in their 2016 review of the sexual orientation literature, stated that Kinsey's survey likely overestimated the frequencies of nonheterosexual attractions and expressions, because his statistics show a higher percentage of the American population as homosexual or bisexual than more modern studies do.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bailey|first1=J. Michael|last2=Vasey|first2=Paul|last3=Diamond|first3=Lisa|author4-link=Marc Breedlove|last4=Breedlove|first4=S. Marc|last5=Vilain|first5=Eric|last6=Epprecht|first6=Marc|title=Sexual Orientation, Controversy, and Science|journal=Psychological Science in the Public Interest|date=2016|volume=17|issue=2|pages=45–101|doi=10.1177/1529100616637616|pmid=27113562|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301639075|doi-access=free|archive-date=June 11, 2020|access-date=June 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611031054/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301639075|url-status=live}}</ref> However Kinsey biographer Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy states that Kinsey's interview style was quite different from the methodologies of modern studies, something he attributes as a reason for difference of answers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Gathorne-Hardy |first=Jonathan |title=Sex the Measure of All Things: A Life of Alfred C. Kinsey |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-253-33734-8 |location=Bloomington, IN |pages=283–286}}</ref> Kinsey focused on in-depth interviews with subjects carried out by himself or highly trained members of his team, and emphasized creating rapport with the interviewee and making them feel comfortable and secure.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gathorne-Hardy |first=Jonathan |title=Sex the Measure of All Things: A Life of Alfred C. Kinsey |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-253-33734-8 |location=Bloomington, IN |pages=175–179}}</ref> Modern interviewers tend to be less thoroughly trained and emphasize scientific detachment, which may make respondents less likely to share sensitive personal details.<ref name=":0" />

The [[postmodernism|postmodern]] take on Kinsey is that sexuality should not be made an object of science.<ref name="Janssen2012">{{cite journal|last1=Janssen|first1=Diederik F.|title=Sexual Sabotage: How One Mad Scientist Unleashed a Plague of Corruption and Contagion on America|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|volume=41|issue=5|year=2012|pages=1315–1318|issn=0004-0002|doi=10.1007/s10508-012-9990-y|s2cid=146167898}}</ref> I.e. postmodernism heavily rejects a study of sexuality based upon naturalistic assumptions.<ref name="p833">{{cite book | last=Tiefer | first=Leonore | title=Sex Is Not A Natural Act & Other Essays | publisher=Routledge | date=2018 | isbn=978-0-429-97428-1 | chapter=Chapter 3. Sexual Biology and the Symbolism of the Natural | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FnhQDwAAQBAJ&dq=sexology+postmodernism&pg=PT6 | access-date=6 September 2025 | page=}}</ref>

==Personal life==

[[File: First Street 1320, Kinsey House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg|thumb|Kinsey's home in [[Bloomington, Indiana|Bloomington]]]]

Kinsey was raised as a [[Methodist]], and for a time converted to a much less fundamentalist [[Congregationalism]].<ref name="Jones 2004 p. 116">{{cite book | last=Jones | first=James Howard | title=Alfred C. Kinsey: A Life | publisher=W. W. Norton | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-393-24534-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jeCHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA116 | page=116}}</ref> During his studies at Harvard he apparently became agnostic or atheist, replacing religious fervor with fervor for science.<ref name="Jones 2004 p. 154">{{cite book | last=Jones | first=James Howard | title=Alfred C. Kinsey: A Life | publisher=W. W. Norton | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-393-24534-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jeCHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154 | access-date=March 5, 2022 | page=154}}</ref> He married [[Clara McMillen]] in 1921. Their marriage ceremony, like his college graduation, was  avoided by Alfred Sr. The couple had four children. Their first son, Donald, born in 1922, died from the acute complications of [[juvenile diabetes]] in 1927, just before his fifth birthday. Their first daughter, Anne, was born in 1924, followed by Joan in 1925, and then by their second son Bruce in 1928.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}}

Kinsey was [[bisexual]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Baumgardner, Jennifer |title=Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6hw1X-f6L8kC&pg=PA48|date=2008|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-0-374-53108-9|pages=48–}}</ref> and one biographer believes that as a young man he would punish himself for having homoerotic feelings.<ref name="Jones6">{{cite book|title=Alfred C. Kinsey: A Life|page=610|first=James H.|last=Jones|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=2004|isbn=0393327248}}</ref> He and his wife agreed that both could have sex with other people as well as with each other. Kinsey had sex with other men, including his student [[Clyde Martin]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Ley, David J. |title=Insatiable Wives: Women Who Stray and the Men Who Love Them|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tctxQzAKdJgC&pg=PA59|date= 2009|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-0032-6|pages=59–}}</ref>

Kinsey was a friend of the [[occult]] filmmaker [[Kenneth Anger]]. In 1955, both visited the [[Abbey of Thelema]] in [[Cefalù]], [[Sicily]], where [[Aleister Crowley]] (in which both were interested) had established a commune.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-05-25 |title=Kenneth Anger: a life in pictures |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2023/may/25/kenneth-anger-has-died-american-film-maker-life-in-pictures |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=the Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Legs McNeil Remembers Kenneth Anger |url=https://airmail.news/issues/2023-6-10/strange-bedfellows |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=airmail.news |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Clara McMillen yearbook photo.jpg|thumb|Clara McMillen in the [[Indiana University]] yearbook, 1921]]
Kinsey designed his own house, which was built in the [[Vinegar Hill Historic District|Vinegar Hill]] neighborhood of Bloomington, Indiana, at 1320 First Street. There he practiced his deep interest in [[gardening]].<ref>Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory.  ''City of Bloomington Interim Report''. Bloomington: City of Bloomington, 2004-04, 90.</ref>

Kinsey died on August 25, 1956, at the age of 62. The cause of his death was reported to be a heart ailment and [[pneumonia]].<ref name = "APobit">{{cite news|url=http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/kinsey.html|title=Dr. Kinsey is Dead; Sex Researcher, 62|work=The New York Times|date=August 26, 1956|archive-date=February 24, 2021|access-date=May 23, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224133940/http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/kinsey.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''New York Times'' ran the following editorial on August 27, 1956:

{{blockquote|The untimely death of Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey takes from the American scene an important and valuable, as well as controversial, figure. Whatever may have been the reaction to his findings—and to the unscrupulous use of some of them—the fact remains that he was first, last, and always a scientist. In the long run, it is probable that the values of his contribution to contemporary thought will lie much less in what he found out than in the method he used and his way of applying it. Any sort of scientific approach to the problems of sex is difficult because the field is so deeply overlaid with such things as moral precept, taboo, individual and group training, and long-established behavior patterns. Some of these may be good in themselves, but they are no help to the scientific and empirical method of getting at the truth. Dr. Kinsey cut through this overlay with detachment and precision. His work was conscientious and comprehensive. Naturally, it will receive a serious setback with his death. Let us earnestly hope that the scientific spirit that inspired it will not be similarly impaired.<ref>Quoted in Pomeroy (1972).</ref><ref name = "New York Times editorial">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/08/27/archives/dr-kinsey.html|title=Dr. Kinsey|work=The New York Times|date=August 27, 1956|archive-date=August 28, 2018|access-date=July 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828035843/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/08/27/archives/dr-kinsey.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Kinsey was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in [[Bloomington, Indiana]].<ref>{{cite web |title=A Walk Through the Rose Hill Cemetery: Historic Tour Guide No. 12 |url=https://bloomington.in.gov/media/media/application/pdf/5409.pdf |website=City of Bloomington, Indiana |access-date=April 14, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212055547/https://bloomington.in.gov/media/media/application/pdf/5409.pdf |archive-date=February 12, 2017 }}</ref><ref>Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25719-25720). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.</ref>

==Legacy==
The popularity of ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' prompted widespread media interest in 1948. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine declared, "Not since ''[[Gone with the Wind (novel)|Gone With the Wind]]'' had booksellers seen anything like it."<ref name="Time1">{{cite magazine|date=March 1, 1948 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794270,00.html |title=How to Stop Gin Rummy |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=September 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017155052/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C794270%2C00.html |archive-date=October 17, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first pop culture references to Kinsey appeared not long after the book's publication; "[[Martha Raye]] [sold] a half-million copies of 'Ooh, Dr. Kinsey!{{'}}"<ref>{{cite news | date = December 12, 2004 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/arts/12rich.html | title = The Plot Against Sex in America | work = The New York Times | access-date = September 11, 2007 | first = Frank | last = Rich | archive-date = June 1, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100601101655/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/arts/12rich.html | url-status = live }}</ref> [[Cole Porter]]'s song "[[Too Darn Hot]]", from the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical ''[[Kiss Me, Kate]]'', devoted its [[Bridge (music)|bridge]] to "the Kinsey report / Every average man you know / Much prefers to play his favorite sport".<ref>{{cite web |last=Porter |first=Cole |date=1948 |url=https://genius.com/Cole-porter-too-darn-hot-lyrics |title=Too Darn Hot |work=[[Kiss Me, Kate]] |via=[[Genius (website)|Genius]]}}</ref> In 1949 [[Mae West]], reminiscing on the days when the word "sex" was rarely uttered, said of Kinsey, "That guy merely makes it easy for me. Now I don't have to draw 'em any blueprints&nbsp;... We are both in the same business&nbsp;... Except I saw it first."<ref name="Time2">{{cite magazine|date=March 7, 1949 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853645,00.html |title=People |magazine=Time |access-date=September 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017155104/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C853645%2C00.html |archive-date=October 17, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The publication of ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' prompted even more intensive news coverage. Kinsey appeared on the cover of the August 24, 1953, issue of ''Time''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19530824,00.html |title=Alfred Kinsey: Reflections in the mirror of Venus |magazine=Time |date=August 24, 1953 |access-date=April 15, 2014}}</ref> The national news magazine featured two articles on the scientist, one focusing on his research, career and new book,<ref name="Time3">{{cite magazine|date=August 24, 1953 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,818752,00.html |title=5,940 Women |magazine=Time |access-date=September 11, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009064623/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C818752%2C00.html |archive-date=October 9, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the other on his background, personality, and lifestyle.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,818753,00.html |title=Dr. Kinsey of Bloomington |magazine=Time |date=August 24, 1953 |access-date=April 15, 2014 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224020902/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,818753,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the magazine's cover portrait, "Flowers, birds, and a bee surround Kinsey; the mirror-of-Venus female symbol decorates his bow tie."<ref>Reinisch, June M. (1990). ''The Kinsey Institute New Report on Sex''. New York: St. Martin's. {{ISBN|0-312-05268-5}}. p. xvii.</ref> The lead article concluded: {{"'}}Kinsey&nbsp;... has done for sex what Columbus did for geography,' declared a pair of enthusiasts&nbsp;... forgetting that Columbus did not know where he was when he got there.&nbsp;... Kinsey's work contains much that is valuable, but it must not be mistaken for the last word."<ref name="Time3"/> A character called "Dr. Kinsey" appeared on the September 15, 1953, television episode of ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]'' as a bow-tied man interviewing a young woman on board a [[cruise ship]] that has left [[Hawaii]]. When "Dr. Kinsey" identifies himself to [[Jack Benny]], Benny steps away in embarrassment.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Jack Benny Show from September 15, 1953 |url=https://archive.org/details/Jack_Benny_09_15_1953 |access-date=November 6, 2011}}</ref> The "Dr. Kinsey" character was also written into another sketch in the same episode, commenting on a fantasy Benny is having about [[Marilyn Monroe]] (a guest on the episode).<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://archive.org/details/Jack_Benny_09_15_1953 |title=The Jack Benny Show |date=September 15, 1953|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>

The early 2000s saw a renewed interest in Kinsey. In 2003 [[Theatre of NOTE]] produced the Steve Morgan Haskell play titled ''Fucking Wasps'' which followed Kinsey's life from childhood until death.  Matt Sesow's paintings adorned the theater along with David Bickford playing piano live.  Written and directed by Steve Morgan Haskell,  ''Fucking Wasps'' received many accolades, including a Playwriting of the Year nomination from Backstage West.  Premiering in 2003, the musical ''Dr. Sex'' focuses on the relationship between Kinsey, his wife, and their shared lover Wally Matthews (based on [[Clyde Martin]]). The play had a score by Larry Bortniker, a book by Bortniker and Sally Deering, and won seven [[Joseph Jefferson Awards|Jeff Awards]]. It was produced off-Broadway in 2005. The 2004 [[biographical film]] ''[[Kinsey (film)|Kinsey]]'', written and directed by [[Bill Condon]], stars [[Liam Neeson]] as the scientist and [[Laura Linney]] as his wife. In 2004 [[T. Coraghessan Boyle]]'s novel about Kinsey, ''[[The Inner Circle (T. C. Boyle novel)|The Inner Circle]]'', was published. The following year, [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] produced the documentary ''Kinsey'' in cooperation with the [[Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction|Kinsey Institute]], which allowed access to many of its files. ''Mr. Sex'', a [[BBC]] radio play by Steve Coombes concerning Kinsey and his work, won the 2005 Imison Award.<ref>{{cite web |title=Imison Award 2005 |url=http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/imison2005.html |publisher=Society of Authors |access-date=September 12, 2007 |archive-date=February 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226164613/http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/imison2005.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2012, Kinsey was inducted into the [[Legacy Walk]] in Chicago, an outdoor public display which celebrates [[LGBT]] history and people.<ref>[http://www.legacyprojectchicago.org/2012_INDUCTEES.html 2012 Inductees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404020610/https://legacyprojectchicago.org/2012_INDUCTEES.html |date=April 4, 2023 }}. Legacyprojectchicago.org (June 2, 2013). Retrieved on June 30, 2015.</ref>

In June 2019, Kinsey was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the [[National LGBTQ Wall of Honor]] within the [[Stonewall National Monument]] (SNM) in [[New York City]]'s [[Stonewall Inn]].<ref name=":23">{{Cite web|url=https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/stonewall-inn-lgbtq-wall-honor|title=National LGBTQ Wall of Honor unveiled at Stonewall Inn|last=Glasses-Baker|first=Becca|date=June 27, 2019|website=www.metro.us|access-date=June 28, 2019|archive-date=June 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628133313/https://www.metro.us/news/local-news/new-york/stonewall-inn-lgbtq-wall-honor|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="SDGLN">{{Cite web|url=https://sdgln.com/news/2019/06/19/national-lgbtq-wall-honor-be-unveiled-historic-stonewall-inn|title=National LGBTQ Wall of Honor to be unveiled at historic Stonewall Inn|first=Timothy|last=Rawles|date=June 19, 2019|website=San Diego Gay and Lesbian News|language=en|access-date=June 21, 2019|archive-date=June 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621091646/https://sdgln.com/news/2019/06/19/national-lgbtq-wall-honor-be-unveiled-historic-stonewall-inn|url-status=dead}}</ref> The SNM is the first [[National monument (United States)|U.S. national monument]] dedicated to [[LGBT rights in the United States|LGBTQ rights]] and [[History of LGBT people|history]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Laird|first=Cynthia|url=https://www.ebar.com/news/news//272833|title=Groups seek names for Stonewall 50 honor wall|website=The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc.|language=en|access-date=May 24, 2019|archive-date=May 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524021601/https://www.ebar.com/news/news//272833|url-status=live}}</ref> and the wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the [[Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019|50th anniversary]] of the [[Stonewall riots]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sachet|first=Donna|url=http://sfbaytimes.com/stonewall-50/|title=Stonewall 50|date=April 3, 2019|website=[[San Francisco Bay Times]]|access-date=May 25, 2019|archive-date=May 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525134357/http://sfbaytimes.com/stonewall-50/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Significant publications==
* {{Cite journal
|year=1920
|title=New Species and Synonymy of American Cynipidae
|journal=[[Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History]]
|volume=42
|pages=293–317
|hdl=2246/1148
|url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/1148
|access-date=October 22, 2010 |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321230621/http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/1148
|url-status=dead
}}
* {{Cite journal
|year=1920
|title=Life Histories of American Cynipidae
|journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
|volume=42
|pages=319–357
|hdl=2246/1149
|url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/1149
|access-date=October 22, 2010 |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321230626/http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/1149
|url-status=dead
}}
* {{Cite journal
|year=1920
|title=Phylogeny of Cynipid Genera and Biological Characteristics
|journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
|volume=42
|pages=357a–c, 358–402
|hdl=2246/1150
|url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/1150
|access-date=October 22, 2010 |archive-date=March 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321230632/http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/1150
|url-status=dead
}}
* {{Cite book
|author=Alfred C Kinsey
|oclc=2901872
|year=1926
|title=An Introduction to Biology
|place=Philadelphia
|publisher=J.B. Lippincott Company
}}
* {{Cite journal
|year=2000
|orig-year=1929
|title=The Gall Wasp Genus Cynips: A Study in the Origin of Species
|journal=Indiana University Studies
|volume=84–86
|pages=1–517
|isbn=0-643-06610-1
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p-OLJvwbDu4C&pg=PA228
|last1=Austin
|first1=Andrew
|last2=Dowton
|first2=Mark
}}
* {{Cite book
|orig-year=1933
|year=1938
|title=New Introduction to Biology
|place=Philadelphia
|publisher=J.B. Lippincott Co
}}
* {{Cite book
|date=1936
|title=The Origin of Higher Categories in Cynips 
|last=Kinsey |first=Alfred C
|publisher=Indiana University
}}
* {{Cite book
|date=1996
|orig-year=First published 1943 by Idlewild Press, Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y. 
|author=Merritt Lyndon Fernald
|author2=Alfred Charles Kinsey
|title=Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America
|place=Mineola, New York
|publisher=Dover Publications (reprint of Harper 1958 edition)
|isbn=0-486-29104-9
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qog-7IjkFNYC
|access-date=October 22, 2010 |author-link=Merritt Lyndon Fernald
}}
* The [[Kinsey Reports]]:
** ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'' (1948, reprinted 1998)
** ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Female'' (1953, reprinted 1998)

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* Christenson, Cornelia (1971). ''Kinsey: A Biography''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
* Drucker, Donna J. (2014). ''The Classification of Sex: Alfred Kinsey and the Organization of Knowledge''. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. {{ISBN|0-8229-6303-5}}
* Gathorne-Hardy, Jonathan (1998). ''Alfred C. Kinsey: Sex the Measure of All Things''. London: Chatto & Windus. {{ISBN|0-253-33734-8}}
* Hegarty, Peter (2013). ''Gentlemen's Disagreement: Alfred Kinsey, Lewis Terman, and the Sexual Politics of Smart Men''. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-226-02444-8}}
* Jones, James H. (1997). ''Alfred C. Kinsey: A Public/Private Life''. New York: Norton. {{ISBN|0-7567-7550-7}}
* Pomeroy, Wardell (1972). ''Dr. Kinsey and the Institute for Sex Research''. New York: Harper & Row.

==External links==
{{Sister project links|wikt=no|b=no|q=Alfred Kinsey|s=Alfred Charles Kinsey |commons=Category:Alfred Kinsey|n=no|v=no |species=Alfred Kinsey|author=yes|d=Q186561}}
* [http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/ Kinsey Institute website]
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/kinsey/ American Experience – Kinsey]
* [http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/kinsey.html Obituary]
* {{IMDb name|1191872}}
* {{IMDb title|0362269}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090106075717/http://www.fyne.co.uk/index.php?item=623 "Alfred Kinsey"]. ''[[Fyne Times]]''. 2006.
* [http://vault.fbi.gov/Alfred%20Kinsey FBI file on Alfred Kinsey]

{{Sexual revolution|state=collapsed}}
{{Evolutionary psychologists}}
{{Authority control}}

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