"Don't Put That In There: And 69 Other Sex Myths Debunked" by Dr. Aaron E. Carroll and Dr. Rachel C. Vreeman

 

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Copyright: 2014

ISBN: 9781250042262

There are lots of books, websites, television shows and so on devoted to debunking myths, but myths about sex are probably one of the most critical, but also some of the most humourous to read.

A lot of it possibly comes from parent and child miscommunication (assuming of course there was any communication in the first place). But while the origin of some of these myths might be able to be explained to a point, a great deal of it is can be classified under 'absolutely beyond comprehension' as to how people come up with these silly ideas.

Examples of some of the topics covered in these little essays (average about 1 to 2 pages each) are: Part 1 (Men): Does penis size matter, racial penis profiling, whether you should have sex before the big game, Foreskin myths; Part 2 (Women): Women don’t really want sex, the bush vs. Brazilian, G-spots, Douching; Part 3 (Sex): aphrodisiacs, sex and exercise, piercing, television making you over sexed, watching porn, premature ejaculation, masturbation myths; Part 4 (Getting Pregnant): sex during menstruation, rape, birth control pills vs. antibiotics, IUDs; Part 5 (STDs): Condoms, Human-papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, HPV vaccine making girls want to have sex, and HIV. This is just a selection from the table of contents, but as you can see the scope is wide ranging.

This book goes a long way to dispelling a lot of these myths, and it does it in a very well written, humorous, and intelligent way. This would be a great books for every teacher, school councillor, school nurse, and many others to have on their book shelf.

I also enjoyed Drs. Carrol & Vreeman's other book "Don't Swallow You Gum: Myths, half-truths, and out right lies about your body and health" which I reviewed back in November 2020. I also reviewed Dr. Carrol's book "The Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully" back in March 2020.

Enjoy.

"Sexual Intelligence" by Kim Cattrall

Publisher: Greystone / Madison Press Books, New Video Group (DVD)
Copyright: 2005 (Book), 2006 (DVD)
ISBN: 1-55365-105-7 (Book), 0-7670-8772-0 (DVD)

Ms. Cattrall first wrote the book and this inspired the documentary. According to her the reason for writing the book: "For me, it was a desire to define myself beyond an iconic character I played for over seven years - a character I love and fully embraced. Samantha Jones captured people's imaginations and earned a place in our collective culture."

The book and documentary interviewed a number of professionals with regard to their work in the areas of sex education, their thoughts, and feelings, etc. Three of the professionals consulted: Thomas Moore "The Scale of Sex", Michael J. Bader "Arousal", & Maggie Paley "The Book of the Penis" have each published on the topic and are considered authorities in the field. In addition the renowned sex therapist Betty Dodson gives her input from a medical point of view. Six non-professionals are also featured in the documentary and a seventh is included in the book, and all candidly tell their stories and give their opinions on how they feel about sex in general and with regard to specific topics.

Comprehensive and accurate sex education is something that is severely lacking in North American society, and unfortunately even more so in other cultures. The vast majority of today's youth have a very lopsided view of what sex actually is, as they are getting their information from a number of sources such as religious institutions, the internet, pornographic videos, etc. The vast majority of these are less than credible, after all how are religious practitioners - that supposedly practise abstention - supposed to give accurate information about something they shouldn't even know anything about? As for the internet, well that is likely the worst place to get accurate information as on there every male is so well endowed that he should probably invest in training wheels, those who aren't are told they should be and tons of ridiculous potions, pills, and other concoctions promise that he will be in a matter of days. For women, they are all supposedly ready for intercourse at the drop of a hat, have to be cleanly shaven, and have enormous breasts.

The book and DVD give a very good introduction to the history of sex, its representation in the arts (both historically and contemporarily), how it is seen in other cultures (primarily historically - in such places as Pompeii), and in basic sex education. Hopefully this inspires readers and viewers to investigate the topic further. The book contains an extensive bibliography, and this alone is worth the price of the book.

As the book asks "Is it possible to develop a kind of sexual intelligence, one that can deepen our pleasure and give us a greater awareness of ourselves?" If a reader takes this to heart and continues to read from reputable sources on the subject then I would say it is possible, but it is something that a person will have to work at.