Trouble in paradise: The current status of sexual science

The scientific study of sexuality has achieved a level of development and a form that often goes unappreciated even by some who are part of this field. In this article I attempt to clarify some aspects of the nature of this field. This is more than a state of the field article; an attempt is made to integrate and to organize our thinking in this area by examining two positions: (a) the lack of any developed global sexual science discipline, and relatedly, (b) that the many scientific advances since Kinsey were made in several disciplines and not in any global discipline. It is important that the nature of sexual science be discussed in this fashion if we are to appreciate the directions we are moving in and the choices we have before us.