[Nfb-science] Blindness Research

[Mike Freeman]

O Lord! aside from the problems of the usual stereotypes, one can't do valid research on the topic because it's hard to get good controls.

BONK is available on the NLS digital site; I'm reading it but hadn't got that far yet.

Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Bullis" <mabullis at hotmail.com>
To: "'Ationfb Science and Engineering Division List'" <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
Date: Wednesday, Apr 1, 2009 9:43:12
Subject: [Nfb-science] Blindness Research

>
>
> Considering the date, this is interesting.
> Mike
> Blindness and Sexuality: 
> Researching Myths and Facts
> Summary Report:
> Distributed by:
> National Data Distribution Center (N.C)
> April 1, 2009
> Atlanta Georgia
> 
> The two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille is being
> celebrated by the US mint with the production of a silver coin commemorating
> the man who created the modern reading system used by many blind people.
> Unfortunately, although blind people work and live normal lives, they are
> still different in many ways and their experiences are a matter of curiosity
> amongst the sighted population.  For most of us, the question, "What is it
> like to be blind?," has entered our minds more than once.
> 
> Research, some of it useful and much of it not, about how people who are
> blind perceive the world, abounds.  One of the more interesting topics of
> study is sexuality among the blind.  The story, goes that blind people are
> incredible sexual partners-comsomehow being extremely sensitive to their
> partners and, being able to stimulate them far more than the average person.
> 
> 
> Masters and Johnson were so intrigued by this subject that they collected
> data over several years from those who had had sex with blind people.
> Surprisingly, what they thought would be myths, turned out to be true.  The
> results were stunning.  On average, women rated their blind partners 9.1 on
> a scale of 10.  The average rating was five for sighted partners.
> 
> "This research has been duplicated several times," says Author Mary Roach,
> author of, 2008 best seller,   
> Bonk: the Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.  The data hasn't attracted
> much attention because blindness is such a low incidence event.  "We usually
> print things that have broad interest.  And, even though this indicates that
> blind people are incredibly sexual, there aren't really enough of them to go
> around."  
> 
> Comments from sighted partners were astounding.  "He seemed like he knew my
> soul," from a 23 year old female.  "Her tongue knew just how to touch every
> part of me if you know what I mean," from a college male.  One woman
> commented, "The things he could do with his fingers were beyond description
> in this survey.  It's not that he was built bigger than other men, it just
> seemed like he touched me inside with it all over,"  she said with a shy
> smile.
> 
> When William Masters was asked, in a 1971 interview, why he didn't draw more
> attention to these findings he said, "I didn't know anything about
> blindness.  We were publishing information of general interest about
> sexuality and this just didn't fit that mold.  Perhaps some day researchers
> will help us understand why blind people have such incredible sexual
> capacities and we'll be able to use that information to increase the
> abilities of others.  Until then, a very few lucky men and women will
> experience the phenomena of sex with a blind person."
> 
> There is a down side to this research.  When interviewed, blind people
> generally expressed frustration about sexuality.  Broadly speaking, they
> divided sighted people into three groups.  First is the group who simply
> want to have sex with them for the thrill and experience of it.  "We feel
> used," was the most common thing reported.  second, was the group who simply
> couldn't see themselves with a blind husband or wife.  "They want to be with
> us, but don't see us as fathers and mothers, for example,"  was often heard.
> the third group were those who "get it" as one blind man put it.  "They can
> see beyond blindness and except us for who we are.  Blindness just fades
> into the background and becomes another characteristic."
> 
> The sad truth is that although blind people work, raise families, travel
> independently and generally speaking, live normal lives, the public
> perception is the opposite.  The image of the helpless beggar still lurks in
> our minds.  Sighted people report that the fear of blindness overwelms their
> rationality.  "I know that I shouldn't let blindness interfere with how I
> think about my partner, but, I can't help it," said a young college student
> engaged to a blind physicist working at NASA.  "Yes, he has money, and yes,
> he's sexy, and oh, my god, can he please me, if you know what I mean.  The
> hardest thing is getting over this image of him as a helpless blind man.  We
> sail, bike ride and horse back ride.  I can't think of anything he can't do
> except drive, but, I'll admit, the image of a helpless blind man still
> haunts me.  People look at him with such pity and I just want to scream,
> "You don't get it you fools.""  But she admits that making the decision to
> mary is difficult.
> 
> Chad, a young blind college student says he finds the whole sex thing a bit
> distracting.  "Sure I can please women more than my sighted friends can, and
> frankly, it's because they just don't pay attention to women and what their
> bodies and hearts are saying.  Women will tell you everything you need to
> know if you just listen and feel."  
> 
> We give you all of this information with the caviat that perhaps only one in
> six thousand people is an eligible blind man or woman, so, happy searching.
> 
> 
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