epublishing store: Intro

Sexual Health eBook Volume1
Chapter 1

Sexual Health: Definitions and Construct Development, Eli Coleman

In order to promote sexual health, it is important to know what one is striving for. In order to achieve sexual health, a clear definition is important. Sexual health has been defined and refined over the years, largely as a result of various attempts to develop public policy approaches to promoting sexual health. The construct of sexual health is just that—a construct—and its definition is often a product of a particular sociocultural, historical, and political climate. Therefore, for those working with the sexual health construct, it is worthwhile to understand the genesis of this construct, its evolution, and the environmental factors that have influenced its development.

HISTORICAL ROOTS OF DEFINING SEXUAL HEALTH
The development of the sexual health construct has its historical roots in the scientific study of human sexuality. Founded in Germany, the modern field of sexual science was first articulated by Iwan Bloch (1908), who is credited with coining the term Sexualwissenschaft (sexology) (Haeberle, 1983, n.d.). With his colleague Magnus Hirschfeld, Bloch published the first sexological journal, Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft, in 1908. In 1919 the first Institute for Sexology was founded at Humboldt University in Berlin, and in 1921 the first international sexological congress was held (Haeberle, 1983, n.d.).

From the very beginning, sexology was defined as an interdisciplinary science. It was recognized that the principles of medical science were not enough to understand the complexities of human sexuality; rather, an interdisciplinary approach was required. Within the sociocultural climate of the women’s emancipation movement and the industrial revolution, the sexology field flourished and gained momentum within the twentieth century’s first sexual revolution; this sexual revolution was a radical departure from Victorian notions of sexuality (Coleman, 2000).

Although Bloch envisioned sexology as an interdisciplinary field of study, most early pioneers in sexology were physicians (e.g., Albert Moll, Max Marcuse, & Havelock Ellis; Bullough, 1994). Not surprisingly, the medicalization of human sexuality was well underway, moving toward understanding of sexual variations and disorders (Kraft-Ebing, 1906, 1933). It is notable, however, that many early sexologists were not solely concerned with the amelioration of sexual disease; rather, in the course of working to understand the complexities and determine the normality or healthiness of human sexuality, many pioneers also fought for sex education, access to care, and sexual rights (Bullough).

This brief history lesson is presented to illustrate that the struggle to define what is sexually healthy, normal, or disordered has been debated since the earliest beginnings of sexology. The idea of promoting sexual health was part of the many pioneers’ work. They were concerned about helping people feel better about their sexuality. Although their activities were not called “promoting sexual health,” it is, in essence, what they were attempting.

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