Based on in-depth interviews with hundreds of women ages 18 to 80 and fascinating case histories from her life experience and clinical practice, Dr. Gail Elizabeth Wyatt arrives at a major new understanding of sex and the black woman. It begins in the distant past, even before we were stolen from our homelands...forced into slavery...robbed of our dignity and our ability to choose our mates.

It lives deep within us in powerful myths that label us as selfess parodies of the mammies of old, wanton "she-devils" or "hot mamas," or workhorses, "mules of the world" with no needs of our own.

Perhaps you or someone you know has fallen prey to these myths. Acting them out in our homes, on television and film, or in the workplace, we let them diminish our potential for making healthy, responsible sexual choices. Or fearing and avoiding them, we let them limit our possibilities for joy, self-confidence, and sexual fulfillment.

It does not have to be that way, says Dr. Wyatt in this long-awaited, soul-shaking book. We do not have to remain captive to outdated ways of thinking about our lives. We can uncover the myths we absorbed from our favorite media, our families, schools, churches, and friends. We can discover how they shaped our behavior, and stop the cycle that endangers our health and well-being. At last, we can fully understand our essential sexuality and discover the life-long rewards of sexual knowledge.

Drawing upon two decades of pioneering research on black female sexuality, plus the wisdom gained as an internationally recognized sex therapist, Dr. Wyatt brings a vital message of hope, healing, and responsibility that can literally save our relationships, our daughters, our granddaughters, our lives.