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Patterns of sexual behavior
Ford, Clellan S. And Frank A. Beach, Patterns Of Sexual Behavior
307 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1970
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August 13, 2024
A CROSS-CULTURAL AND CROSS-SPECIES EXAMINATION OF BEHAVIOR
The authors begin this 1951 book with the statement, "This book is about the sexual behavior of human beings and of lower animals. The people with whom it deals belong to 190 different societies, and these societies are scattered around the world from the edge of the Arctic Circle to the southernmost tip of Australia. Most of the animals whose behavior we describe are mammals and they represent many different species from rats and mice to man's nearest living relatives, the great apes." (Pg. 1) They add, "We have consistently eschewed any discussion of rightness or wrongness of a particular type of sexual behavior. Moral evaluations form no part of this book." (Pg. 14)
They observe, "In 49 (64 per cent) of the 76 societies other than our own for which information is available, homosexual activities of one sort or another are considered normal and socially acceptable for certain members of the community. The most common form of institutionalized homosexuality is that of the `berdache' or transvestite. The berdache is a male who dresses like a woman, performs women's tasks, and adopts some aspects of the feminine role in sexual behavior with male partners." (Pg. 130)
They suggest, "Identification of `first causes' would be difficult if not impossible until the evidence is more plentiful. For purposes of the present discussion it is appropriate to disregard questions as to the existence of a specifically homosexual developmental stage and of the social patterning of this form of behavior between adult males." (Pg. 137)
They summarize, "The cross-cultural and cross-species comparisons presented in this chapter combine to suggest that a biological tendency for inversion of sexual behavior is inherent in most if not all mammals including the human species. At the same time we have seen that homosexual behavior is never the predominant type of sexual activity for adults in any society or in any animal species." (Pg. 142)
This is a historically important book, which was cited in the discussions by the American Psychiatric Association in their revisions of the DMS entries about homosexuality.
The authors begin this 1951 book with the statement, "This book is about the sexual behavior of human beings and of lower animals. The people with whom it deals belong to 190 different societies, and these societies are scattered around the world from the edge of the Arctic Circle to the southernmost tip of Australia. Most of the animals whose behavior we describe are mammals and they represent many different species from rats and mice to man's nearest living relatives, the great apes." (Pg. 1) They add, "We have consistently eschewed any discussion of rightness or wrongness of a particular type of sexual behavior. Moral evaluations form no part of this book." (Pg. 14)
They observe, "In 49 (64 per cent) of the 76 societies other than our own for which information is available, homosexual activities of one sort or another are considered normal and socially acceptable for certain members of the community. The most common form of institutionalized homosexuality is that of the `berdache' or transvestite. The berdache is a male who dresses like a woman, performs women's tasks, and adopts some aspects of the feminine role in sexual behavior with male partners." (Pg. 130)
They suggest, "Identification of `first causes' would be difficult if not impossible until the evidence is more plentiful. For purposes of the present discussion it is appropriate to disregard questions as to the existence of a specifically homosexual developmental stage and of the social patterning of this form of behavior between adult males." (Pg. 137)
They summarize, "The cross-cultural and cross-species comparisons presented in this chapter combine to suggest that a biological tendency for inversion of sexual behavior is inherent in most if not all mammals including the human species. At the same time we have seen that homosexual behavior is never the predominant type of sexual activity for adults in any society or in any animal species." (Pg. 142)
This is a historically important book, which was cited in the discussions by the American Psychiatric Association in their revisions of the DMS entries about homosexuality.
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