Floyd Martinson

Floyd Martinson

Floyd Mansfield Martinson (11 Nov 1916 - 23 Apr 2000) was a pioneer in child sexuality research, contributing more to that field than anyone else in his lifetime. 9 books and over 50 scholarly papers are among his contributions, many of which are available on Ipce. He was the fourth person to receive the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality's Kinsey Award.

Martinson held liberal views on intergenerational intimacy:

Commentators on this subject like Floyd Martinson, sociologist at Minnesota’s Gustavus Adolphus College, emphasize the quality of the adult-child relationship. "Intimate human relations are important and precious. I'd like to see as few restrictions placed on them as possible."

From Cradle-to-Grave Intimacy: Some Researchers Openly Argue That 'Anything Goes' for Children, quoted in Martinson's autobiography.

Examples of Martinson's books

• Floyd M. Martinson. "The Sexual Life of Children", Bergin & Garvey, 1994, ISBN: 089789376X,9780897893763

Publisher's description:

This book traces the development of sexuality in the child from the prenatal, through birth and up to puberty and adolescence. Very little has been written about children's sexuality in spite of a large literature on child abuse. Western society has been slow to recognize sexual experiences and conceptualizations as an important part of a child's development. This is the only work that has been written in a frank and open manner about the many sexual encounters that children have on a daily basis as part of their normal psychological development. Martinson's study is unique in that children speak for themselves in telling about their explorations, confusions, fears, and satisfactions. The book traces the life of children in their day-to-day encounters as they grow and develop. It complements and rounds out Robert Coles's important works on The Moral Life of Children, The Political Life of Children, and The Spiritual Life of Children.

Themes (gleaned from list of contents):

• Chapter 1 Early Development And Experience
• Chapter 2 Self-Stimulation
• Chapter 3 Sex Play in Childhood and Preadolescence
• Chapter 4 Same-Sex Sex Play
• Chapter 5 Dreams, Fantasies, and Myths
• Chapter 6 Sexual Encounters with Older Children, Adolescents, and Adults
• Chapter 7 Sexuality Education
• Chapter 8 Children and the Law
• Chapter 9 The Sexual Life of Children: Sweden and the United States

• Floyd M. Martinson, "Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective", The Book Mark, USA, 1973.

Themes (gleaned from list of contents):

• The Sexual Capacity of Infants, their Genital Play [Masturbation], Infant-Other Interaction, Infant-Infant Sexual Encounters, Infant Encounters With Children and Adolescents, Results of Infant Sexual Encounters.
• Sexual Encounters With Peers In Early Childhood, Homosexual Sexual Encounters With Peers In Early Childhood, Sexual Encounters In Early Childhood With Preadolescents and Adolescents, Sexual Encounters With Parents In Early Childhood, Sexual Encounters In Early Childhood With Adults Other Than Parents, Results of Sexual Encounters In Early Childhood.
• Preadolescent Sexual Encounters, First Paired Dating, Going Steady, Sexual-Erotic Encounters, Homosexual Activity, Peers As Sex Educators, Sexual Encounters With Older Youth, Preadolescent-Parent Sexual Encounters, Preadolescents and Incestuous Relationships With Siblings and Parents, Preadolescent-Other Adult Sexual Encounters, Other Adult-Sponsored Controls On the Sexual Encounters Of Preadolescents, Preadolescent-Animal Sexual Encounters, Outcomes of Preadolescent Sexual Encounters.

External links

• The Sexual Life of Children, 1994. pdf version at Libgen, epub version at Annas-archive
• Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective, 1973. at Ipce