Author: Vern L. Bullough

One of the major problems of cities with mild winter climates is the number of homeless people on the street. As social services are being curtailed, almost every large city in the United States has a major problem of dealing with the poor, the mentally ill, the long-term unemployed, the drug addicted, and others who …

Evolving Principles for a New Century In 1976, Lester Kirkendall drew up what he called “A New Bill of Sexual Rights and Responsibilities.” It was signed by many distinguished sexologists as well as other scholars and therapists. The original document was commissioned by Paul Kurtz, then editor of The Humanist and later published as a …

If present trends continue, it seems that Americans currently face the prospect of spending nearly half of their adult life between the ages of eighteen and fifty-nine single (with no particular sex partner) or in dating relationships. The age at first marriage is rising, divorce is increasingly likely, and the rates of remarriage are declining.1 While …

There is a tendency in our society to put people in little boxes. If one is a female, we put that person in a box marked “female,” which makes her different from a male. But how different? Obviously, there is a difference in genitalia and in reproductive capacity, but even with these distinctions there is …

Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions, by Daniel C. Maguire (Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 2001, ISBN 080063433) 160 pp., including Index. Paper $13. In Sacred Choices Daniel C. Maguire, who teaches ethics in the theology department of Marquette University, gives a very optimistic view of attitudes toward abortion by …

Sexuality and Catholicism, by Thomas C. Fox (New York: George Braziller, 1995, ISBN 0-8076-1396-7) 381 pp., $27.50 cloth.   Once upon a time (less than sixty years ago), there were mainly two categories of writings about the Catholic church, one by Catholics and one by all others. Works by Catholics were usually classified by the …

It’s not what it used to be—it’s better Women have been the driving force behind the radical changes in American sexual behavior in the last half of the twentieth century. Women’s attitudes toward sexuality and sexual behavior have changed and forced a response from males. The key element in the change has been a woman’s …

Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example, by D. Michael Quinn. (Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 1996) 410 pp., 21 photographs, cloth $29.95. Outing historical individuals as homosexual or lesbian is a rather risky task, even more so if a strongly organized religion is involved. D. Michael Quinn, a former history professor at …