Between Avant-Garde Ideals and Conservative Moralities: The Emergence of Sexology in Colombia

This article looks into sexology's emergence and institutionalization in Colombia. Educational, clinical, and research initiatives, which were the first steps that brought this discipline into light, and its later developments reflect, as a whole, the efforts made to legitimize alternative and more vanguard ways of looking at sexuality. The article aims to describe the peculiarities of the institutionalization process within this scientific and professional field and also the specific sexuality topics that have most gained notoriety since then. Special consideration will be given to how the Proyecto Nacional de Educacion Sexual (National Project for Sexual Education) was formulated and executed, and finally the moralities evoked against this project as an example of the controversies raised by the clash between sexologists and more conservative sectors of society at that time.