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The study separates gays into five categories, or "homosexualities." Two of the categories, "close-coupled" and "functional" (confident, unattached "swinging singles"), score about as well on psychological ratings as heterosexuals. Those listed as "open-coupled," living together but tending to seek fulfillment outside the home, score almost as well. The sad-sack "asexuals" and "dysfunctionals" account for most of the psychological disturbances. Says the report: "It would appear that relatively large numbers of homosexual men manage their homosexuality with little difficulty, while a homosexual way of life is problematic for only a distinct minority." One problem with this analysis: the minority may be distinct, but it is hardly small. Of those male gays who could be classified, the Kinsey asexuals and dysfunctionals account for 40%. The proportion of troubled heterosexuals is not known, since researchers made no breakdown of the comparison group.
The Kinsey researchers are enormously proud of the new classification system. Says Bell: "It's the first time we have been able to develop a very comprehensive typology of homosexuals. It goes beyond all the old stuff about inserter and insertee, butch and femme." Not comprehensive enough, though, to cover more than 70% of those interviewed in the study; 283 of the 979 were left uncategorized because they did not seem to fit anywhere. A more basic problem with the study is that it is arriving years late, reporting attitudes that precede the rise of the women's and homosexual rights movements. For a book that stresses homosexuals' feelings about themselves, much of it reads more like history than current events.