American Experience - Kinsey (2005)

Synopsis: In the 1940s, biologist Alfred Kinsey pioneered the study of human sexuality with a groundbreaking series of reports that documented the sexual practices of tens of thousands of American men and... In the 1940s, biologist Alfred Kinsey pioneered the study of human sexuality with a groundbreaking series of reports that documented the sexual practices of tens of thousands of American men and women. Revealing a broad spectrum of sexual experiences that negated such previously accepted labels as "deviant" and "unnatural," the Kinsey Reports literally changed the American cultural landscape by encouraging a social tolerance that helped usher in the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Though Kinsey's work was indeed revolutionary, there was nothing in the doctor's past that would suggest his iconoclastic future: he grew up in a Christian conservative family and spent his early career as a professor of zoology and entomology. It wasn't until his professional sex research that Kinsey began his own personal experimentations with sex, pursuing an interest in bisexuality, sadomasochism, group encounters, and other then-taboo experiences. This biographical episode of PBS' AMERICAN EXPERIENCE series examines Kinsey's work and its impact on his personal life--as well as vice versa--through archival materials and interviews with biographers, historians, and Kinsey's own children and colleagues. [More]

Producer: Barak Goodman