Judith A. Reisman (IPA ɹismən[1]; b. Judith Ann Gelernter, 1935, Newark, New Jersey)[2] is best known for her criticism of the work of Alfred Kinsey. She argues that many of Kinsey's sexual viewpoints are not appropriate in the context of modern sex education.[3]
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Background
Judith Reisman was born to a second-generation Jewish-American family in 1935 in Newark. Her father, Matthew Gelernter and her mother, Ada, owned a fish business in Irvington. She earned a M.A. (1976) and a Ph.D. (1980) in Communications at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Reisman has also been based at Haifa University in Israel.[2]
Reisman has guest lectured at numerous educational establishments, including Princeton, Georgetown, Tel Aviv University and the Rutherford Institute, as well as to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
Views
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In Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences she wrote:
- Kinsey's 'research' alleged that 10% of American males were homosexual, that all of us were bisexual, that children were sexual from birth and could engage in sexual activity with adults without harm...[4]
Reisman has also asserted that Kinsey sexually abused children, although no biographer of Kinsey has found evidence for the claim.[3] The Kinsey Institute has stated in response that "Kinsey was not a pedophile in any shape or form."[5]
Reisman says that there are chemicals in the brain, which she has dubbed "erototoxins,"[6][7] that are produced by watching pornography and that have toxic influences on the brain.[8] Reisman lists these erototoxins as testosterone, adrenaline, oxytocin, glucose, dopamine, serotonin, and phenylethylamine.[7] While some of these chemicals are related to arousal or orgasm, none are specifically associated with toxicity or the viewing of erotic images.
Criticisms
In the early 1980's, Reisman, then serving as Full Research Professor at American University, was given a grant by the US Department of Justice to study images in Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler magazines. As noted by Avedon Carol,
It was a scientific disaster, riddled with researcher bias and baseless assumptions. The American University (AU), where Reisman's study had been academically based, actually refused to publish it when she released it, after their independent academic auditor reported on it. Dr Robert Figlio of the University of Pennsylvania told AU that, 'The term child used in the aggregate sense in this report is so inclusive and general as to be meaningless.' Figlio told the press, 'I wondered what kind of mind would consider the love scene from Romeo and Juliet to be child porn'.[9]
Reisman later stated that the study was not published due to threats leveled against AU by the Kinsey Institute.[2]
Similarly, Reisman's research has been criticised by Dr. Loretta Haroian, formerly of the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, Dept. of Child & Adolescent Sexuality.[9]
Publications
- Images of Children, Crime and Violence in Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler, US Dep. Justice Grant No. 84-JN-AX-K007, 1986, 1989, 1990.
- Kinsey, Sex and Fraud, Judith Reisman et al., Lafayette LA: Huntington House, 1990.
- Soft Porn Plays Hardball, Lafayette: LA. Huntington House, 1991.
- Kinsey: Crimes & Consequences, The Institute for Media Education, Crestwood, KY., 1998, 2000, 2003.
References
- ^ The Kinsey Coverup Part 1
- ^ a b c "A Personal Odyssey to the Truth", Judith A. Reisman self-biography, accessed 21 December 2006
- ^ a b The Culture Wars. Who Know? The New Yorker, 29 November, 2004, Daniel Radosh. Accessed 13 February, 2007
- ^ Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences the Red Queen and the Grand Scheme, Judith A. Reisman. Published January 1998. ISBN 0966662407
- ^ Further Response to Allegations, 2003 The Kinsey Institute. Accessed 13 February, 2007
- ^ Drjudithreisman.com Archives
- ^ a b Testimony before the United States Senate, Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on "The Brain Science Behind Pornography Addiction and the Effects of Addiction on Families and Communities" November 18, 2004
- ^ Erototoxin Dr. Judith Reisman. Accessed 13 February, 2007
- ^ a b Carol, Avedon 1994, Nudes, Prudes and Attitudes: Pornography and Censorship, New Clarion Press, Gloucester.
External links
- Official website
- "Her Kinsey Obsession" by Max Blumenthal, AlterNet, December 15, 2004.
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