Human Sexuality and Its Problems (Third Edition)

Abstract

Palimpsest refers to a sheet of parchment where the original ink is scraped away and replaced by new writing. Outlines of the original text are often still identifiable. In more expanded use, palimpsest refers to modified structures in which traces of the original can be identified. The third edition of Human Sexuality and Its Problems is a literary palimpsest, appearing 20 years after the second edition and 26 years since the first. Traces of the earlier editions are easily detected,but theoriginalshavebeensubstantiallyreplaced.Rightly so, because in a quarter-century, the realm of study of human sexuality has expanded, morphed, digitalized, molecularized, and globalized. The great advantage of this volume’s still-visible history, however, is the careful guidance given the reader by its author. Bancroft has been in the midst of much of this transformation of sexuality and sexuality research. As director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction from 1995 to 2005, he respectfully but firmly spoke against the demonization of Alfred Kinsey and reacquainted many with the importance of Kinsey’s research. He played a key role in organization of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Call to Action for Sexual Responsibility in 1999. Mostly ignored during the presidential administration of George Bush, the products of that Call to Action represented a remarkably civil and democratic dialog about the role of sex and sexuality in American public health. Bancroft alludes to the Call to Action at several points, most tellingly in the Introduction, where he also frames the new edition in terms of his personal growth during the years between first and third editions. During Bancroft’s tenure as director of the Kinsey Institute, healsohad todeal with attempts within the AmericanHouse of Representatives to withdraw funding for peer-reviewed sexuality research funded by the National Institutes of Health. Aspectsof these and otherdetails relevant tosexuality research are addressed throughout the book. Such details provide an invaluable breadth of perspective that should remind everyone of the importance—but ever-present fragility—of our work. The book’s layers take on additional richness through the occasional emergence of Bancroft’s own voice. Bancroft uses that voice to step away from authorial objectivity to comment (sometimes sternly), to express doubt, or to congratulate the field for its progress. From time to time, he weighs in about ongoing debates. I found the presence of these interjections to be both helpful and refreshing. Like having the opportunity to ask questions of a mentor:‘‘What do you think?’’The questions and answers shape the relations of student and mentor. Or, in this case, they shape the dialog between author and reader. Texts should stimulate thought as well as teach, and a mental dialog with Bancroft filled many quiet mornings as I was reading, or as I moved into my own writing for the day. Human Sexuality and Its Problems is organized in 16 chapters. Roughly half of the book (Chapters 1–10) present detailed summaries of a variety of topics. Chapters 11–16 generally address a variety of sexual problems and treatment/management approaches. Four areas of the book deserve special emphasis. Chapter 2 addresses models of sexuality and the role of theory. A short discussion of epistemology is followed by critiques of two popular contemporary theories—Sexual Strategy Theory and Sexual Script Theory. Bancroft sharply dissects essential limitations of these theories, leaving the reader with negative impressions of both. Bancroft then presents the Dual Control Model, developed with colleagues at the Kinsey Institute. In essence, the Dual Control Model is a metaphor for the J. Dennis Fortenberry (&) Section of Adolescent Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, 410 W. 10th St., Room 1001, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA e-mail: jfortenb@iupui.edu