Masters y Johnson, los gurús de una revolución sexual.

Los años 60′ del siglo pasado fueron una época revulsiva, qué duda cabe. Rebeldes como pocas veces, las masas (particularmente los jóvenes) se oponían a casi todo lo que tuviera forma de obligación impuesta por el Estado o sus socios corporativos. Una de sus «marcas registradas» fue el trabajo de la pareja de sexólogos Masters y Johnson, claros guías de la respuesta sexual humana.

El hipismo, el rock de aquellos tiempos (ya lejos de sus primeras manifestaciones, como Elvis Presley o Bill Haley y lanzado a la más feroz experimentación) las drogas alucinógenas, el rechazo a la guerra de Vietnam, el peligro de la «guerra fría», el asesinato de John F. Kennedy y demás hechos revulsivos, configuraban un panorama de «antes y después».

By the way, sexual behaviors were not left out, and they had their own revolution. In addition to the enormous relaxation of love habits that promoted youth movements, the popularization of the contraceptive pill was added. Created in 1956 and 10 years later it had several million consumers throughout America.

Every revolution has its guides

The couple William Masters and virginia johnson have undoubtedly been the most popular sexologists of the last century, due to their research on the human sexual response. His books were Bestsellers and had a visibility comparable to that of Rock stars. And a similar ability to shock the establishment.

One of her main findings from this study was the discovery of the fundamental role of the clitoris in the female orgasm. Until then, the Freudian idea of the "vaginal orgasm" predominated as the ideal of orgasm. Research by Masters and Johnson, the gurus of a revolution at its height, showed that vaginal stimulation was not very relevant to the female orgasm.

Fue así que «pusieron en valor» un órgano que había sido descubierto por el anatomista y cirujano Mateo Renaldo Colón, en la Italia del siglo XVI. Eso le valió la persecución inquisitorial, porque dijo que ese apéndice no tenía más utilidad que provocar placer.

En realidad, su «descubrimiento», por llamarlo de alguna manera, también se lo atribuyen otros dos anatomistas de la época. Y un historiador contemporáneo a estos científicos manifiesta que en realidad al clítoris se lo conoce desde el siglo II.

Anyway, they were William Masters and virginia johnson who gave it popularity, using the already very massive media of the time. Another of his contributions was being the parents of the sexual therapies and sexological counseling tal como las conocemos hoy. Por eso se los considera «los gurús de la revolución sexual»

«La respuesta sexual humana»

Such was the title of the book that changed the vision of sex in the West. And since they never sat still, already at an advanced age (in 1994) they published another volume that 28 years after the first one gave it another approach. «Heterosexualidad», dándole a su trabajo una visión desde un plano más «afectivo» y contemplando las emociones. Algo muy distinto al muy fisiológico de su obra más famosa.

In the main, the Masters and Johnson model of sexual therapy divided the human sexual response into 4 major phases: arousal phase, plateau phase, orgasmic phase, and resolution phase. They differed with the method of Alfred Kinsey, the father of sex research. This scientist, in the 40s and 50s of the last century, published reports on human sexual behavior, based only on interviews he did with dozens of people.

Masters and Johnson did something else entirely. To the scandal of many, this couple of gurus of the sexual revolution (she a psychologist, the gynecologist) went much further: they took notes on the reactions of the volunteers who agreed to be analyzed in the middle of the sexual act. They recorded the times. Electrodes were attached to pairs of lovers to better monitor them while they had intercourse in a laboratory. They used electrocardiographs, vibrators, cameras, etc.

Through these methods (which earned them the nickname of perverts, voyeurs and worse) and the conclusions they drew, Masters and Johnson were a pivotal point in research on sex and its perception in the Western world.

THE LEGACY

Además de su obra más conocida, «La respuesta sexual humana» (1966), estos gurús de la revolución sexual publicaron «Incompatibilidad sexual humana» (1970), «El vínculo del placer» (1975), y la ya mencionada «Heterosexualidad» (1994). Todas fueron obras fundamentales de la sexología y grandes bestsellers.

«Simplemente, quiero responder una pregunta: ¿qué ocurre en el cuerpo durante el sexo?»said Virginia Johnson. They answered that and also they demolished myths, educated and improved the sexual life of people, todo contra los prejuicios de la época. No solo por un tabú moral: la comunidad científica no consideraba el sexo como objeto de estudio muy válido o interesante, hasta que llegaron ellos. Como bien se dijo, «sacaron el sexo de la alcoba y lo pusieron en el laboratorio».

Today, when almost all prejudices have fallen and both independent escorts Since women of all walks of life give and receive sexual pleasure without major problems, it's good to remember those who did a lot to make it possible.

William Masters passed away in 2001, at the age of 85, and virginia johnson in 2013, with 88.