Editing Masters and Johnson (section)

{{Short description|1950s pioneer sex research partnership}}
The '''Masters and Johnson''' [[scientific research|research team]], composed of [[William Masters|William H. Masters]] (1915–2001) and [[Virginia E. Johnson]] (1925–2013), pioneered research into the nature of [[Human sexual response cycle|human sexual response]] and the diagnosis and treatment of [[Sexual disorder (disambiguation)|sexual disorders]] and [[Sexual dysfunction|dysfunctions]] from 1957 until the 1990s.<ref name="M&J">{{cite web| title=Masters and Johnson| url=http://health.discovery.com/centers/sex/sexpedia/mandj.html | publisher=The Discovery Channel|access-date= September 22, 2011 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060518002107/http://health.discovery.com/centers/sex/sexpedia/mandj.html|archive-date = 18 May 2006}}</ref><ref name="FFWHC">{{cite book |last=[[Feminist Women's Health Center (Atlanta, GA)|Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers]] (FFWHC) |year=1991 |title=A New View of a Woman's Body|publisher= Feminist Heath Press |page=46 |isbn=978-0-9629945-0-0}}</ref>

The work of Masters and Johnson began in the Department of [[Obstetrics and gynaecology|Obstetrics and Gynecology]] at [[Washington University in St. Louis]] and was continued at the independent not-for-profit research institution they founded in [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] in 1964, originally called the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation and renamed the [[Masters and Johnson Institute]] in 1978.

In the initial phase of Masters and Johnson's studies, from 1957 until 1965, they recorded some of the first laboratory data on the anatomy and physiology of human sexual response based on direct observation of 382 women and 312 men in what they conservatively estimated to be "10,000 complete cycles of sexual response". Their findings, particularly on the nature of female [[sexual arousal]] (for example, describing the mechanisms of [[vaginal lubrication]] and debunking the earlier widely held notion that vaginal lubrication originated from the [[cervix]]) and [[orgasm]] (showing that the physiology of orgasmic response was identical whether stimulation was clitoral or vaginal, and, separately, proving that some women were capable of being multiorgasmic), dispelled many long-standing misconceptions.<ref name="FFWHC"/><ref name="Archer, Lloyd">{{cite book | title = Sex and Gender | publisher =[[Cambridge University Press]]|year = 2002|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sexgender0000arch_l8q2/page/85 85]–88| access-date = August 25, 2012| isbn = 978-0521635332|url = https://archive.org/details/sexgender0000arch_l8q2 | url-access = registration | author= John Archer, Barbara Lloyd}}</ref>

They jointly wrote two classic texts in the field, ''Human Sexual Response'' and ''Human Sexual Inadequacy'', published in 1966 and 1970 respectively. Both of these books were best-sellers and were translated into more than thirty languages. The team has been inducted into the [[St. Louis Walk of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/?view=achievement|title=St. Louis Walk of Fame Inductees|last=St. Louis Walk of Fame|publisher=stlouiswalkoffame.org|access-date=25 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031162946/http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/?view=achievement|archive-date=31 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Additionally, they are the focus of a television series called ''[[Masters of Sex]]''<ref name = Maier2009>{{Cite book| publisher = Basic Books| isbn = 9780465003075| last = Maier| first = Thomas| title = Masters of sex : the life and times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the couple who taught America how to love| location = New York| year = 2009}}</ref> for [[Showtime (TV channel)|Showtime]] based on the [[Masters of Sex (book)|2009 biography]] by author Thomas Maier.<ref name = Maier2009/>