Real Art Ways Hartford, CT
Dr. Sandra R. Scantling
Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine; Certified Sex Therapist
Kinsey— The Male and Female Sexual Response
Program Description
Dr. Scantling discussed male and female sexual response and explored what is "sexually normal" and how we know.
Presented At
Real Art Ways Hartford, CT
Film Synopsis
A look at the life of Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was one of the first recorded works that saw science address sexual behavior.
Based on a true story, this Academy Award-nominated film chronicles the life of pioneering researcher Alfred Kinsey. After being hired to teach biology at Indiana University, Kinsey (Liam Neeson) meets and marries a witty, freethinking female student, Clara McMillen (Laura Linney). In the course of his teaching, he discovers an astonishing dearth of scientific data on sexual behavior. When students seek him out for advice about sexual concerns and problems, he realizes that no one has done the clinical research that would yield reliable answers to their questions. Inspired to explore the emotionally charged subject of sex from a strictly scientific point of view, Kinsey recruits a team of researchers. Over time they refine an interviewing technique, which helps people to break through shame, fear, and guilt and speak freely about their sexual histories. When Kinsey publishes his male study in 1948, the press compares the impact to that of the atom bomb. But as the country enters the more paranoid Cold War era of the 1950s, Kinsey's follow-up study on women is seen as an attack on basic American values. The ensuing outrage and scorn causes Kinsey's benefactors to abandon him. At the same time, the jealousies and acrimony caused by Kinsey's attempt to create a private sexual utopia threaten to tear apart the research team and expose them to unwelcome scrutiny.
About the Speaker
Dr. Sandra R. Scantling is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, nationally recognized intimacy expert, and a certified sex therapist and psychotherapist. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, advanced-practice registered nurse, and is a diplomate of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. She holds degrees from Boston University, Indiana University, and Antioch University and completed a doctoral fellowship and advanced sex-therapy training at Yale University. She is the director of the Farmington Psychotherapy Center and Scantling Institute in Farmington.