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Biased Use of Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Male Homosexuality in Human Sexuality Textbooks

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 1998 by Bruce Rind

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Concluding Remarks

An important function of scientific presentations is to advance an objective understanding of phenomena of interest. Using cross-cultural and historical perspectives is recognized in sexology as a valuable means by which to advance such understanding of sexological phenomena (Bullough, 1976; Ford & Beach, 1951; Gebhard, 1985), particularly those of a taboo nature such as homosexuality (Boswell, 1980; Greenberg, 1988). The human sexuality textbooks in the current sample extensively used cross-cultural and historical data to provide perspective on male homosexuality; their use, however, generally failed to advance an objective understanding of this phenomenon. These data were cited selectively and inappropriately. Their use seemed to be guided more by the textbook authors' own moral positions than by a striving for scientific objectivity. The fallout from this bias is that students, who rely on these textbooks as authoritative sources of scientific information, are not being challenged to understand the various forms of male-male sex in a scientifically objective fashion.

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(1) According to David Lee (personal communication), who is sponsoring editor for psychology at Houghton Mifflin and handles Allgeier and Allgeier's textbook, the major market leaders among current human sexuality textbooks are, in alphabetical order: Allgeier and Allgeier (1995), Crooks and Baur (1993), Hyde and DeLamater (1997), Masters, Johnson, and Kolodny (1995), Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus (1997), and Strong and DeVault (1997). All these textbooks were included in the current sample. At the 1996 and 1997 Eastern Psychological Association conferences, the author asked publishers' representatives what the market leaders are. Responses were in agreement with the above list.

REFERENCES

Adam, B. D. (1985). Age, structure, and sexuality: Reflections on the anthropological evidence on homosexual relations. Journal of Homosexuality, 11, 19-33.

Allgeier, E. R., & Allgeier, A. R. (1995). Sexual interactions (4th ed.). Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.

Baldauf, I. (1988). Die Knabenliebe in Mittelasien: Bacabozlik [Bacabozlik: Boylove in Central Asia]. Berlin, Germany: Verlag das Arabische Buch.

Bauserman, R. (1990). Objectivity and ideology: Criticism of Theo Sandfort's research on man-boy sexual relations. Journal of Homosexuality, 20, 297-312.

Bauserman, R., & Rind, B. (1997). Psychological correlates of male child and adolescent sexual experiences with adults: A review of the nonclinical literature. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 105-142.

Boswell, J. (1980). Christianity, social tolerance, and homosexuality: Gay people in Western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bremmer, J. (1980). An enigmatic Indo-European rite: Paederasty. Arethusa, 13, 279-298.

Bullough, V. L. (1976). Sexual variance in society and history. New York: Wiley.

Byer, C. O., & Shainberg, L. W. (1994). Dimensions of human sexuality (4th ed.). Madison, WI: Brown and Benchmark.

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Biased Use of Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Male Homosexuality in Human Sexuality Textbooks

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 1998 by Bruce Rind

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