Alfred C. Kinsey: A Life by James H. Jones

Author:James H. Jones [Jones, James H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2004-11-17T05:00:00+00:00

21

“A REPORT ON WHAT PEOPLE DO”

The last interview was over and night had fallen, Kinsey’s favorite time of day. With the return of darkness, he could pursue the research he found most satisfying, even though it had to be hidden from the public. Everything had been arranged. At Kinsey’s request, Wardell Pomeroy had made an appointment to have sex with a female friend who had agreed to let others watch. The exhibition promised to be memorable. Pomeroy’s sexual prowess was a matter of record, and his partner for the evening, a professional woman by training, was said to be highly responsive. Equally important, she was known for her discretion, a quality demanded by Kinsey, who required Pomeroy (and every other member of the inner circle) to seek advance approval before having extramarital sex with anyone. This condition was hardly pro forma. As Gebhard later explained, “if Kinsey had had any qualms about any of the female partners he would have simply said, ‘No, I won’t allow it.’ ”1 Pomeroy, of course, was only too happy to play by the rules. He enjoyed having sex with a variety of partners, and he relished these opportunities to demonstrate his virtuoso techniques before an audience.

Over time, Kinsey had become astonishingly bold about inviting people to these demonstrations. In the 1940s and 1950s, he asked a number of trusted friends outside the staff to join him as observers, ostensibly to pick their brains, but also, one suspects, to enhance his own pleasure. Watching others have sex satisfied both the scientist and the voyeur in Kinsey. Emphasizing the essential paradox of a man whose interests in sex ran at right angles, one former staff member, Vincent Nowlis, described Kinsey’s reactions as “orthogonal.” Kinsey’s complex personality, Nowlis explained, brought him down on both sides of the equation, “high on the scientific-objective and high on the prurient.”2

On this particular evening in the late 1940s, Kinsey’s guest was Frank Beach. As their acquaintance had deepened into friendship, Kinsey had taken Beach into his confidence, at least to a point. Together, they had explored Times Square, visited gay bathhouses and bars, and hung out in various parks and tea rooms (public urinals) where homosexuals congregated to find partners for anonymous sex. It was easy for Kinsey to justify this fieldwork. A lifelong naturalist with a keen appreciation for what could be learned by the naked eye, he knew that direct observation has probably led to more discoveries than any other method in history. He was also the last researcher in the world who would allow prudery to prevent him from observing human sexual behavior. Beach shared these values. As a fellow scientist, he believed that researchers should not limit themselves to books and interviews but must observe human behavior whenever possible, recording their observations with scientific detachment and personal disinterest.

Cold objectivity was the ideal. It was also difficult to achieve, as Beach quickly discovered when he accompanied Kinsey to watch Pomeroy and his friend perform that evening. Decades later,

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