Did You Hear About The Girl Who . . . ?

“Takes the reality of boys and girls seriously, while never flinching from providing the best health information available.” —Gary Alan Fine, Northwestern University, author of Manufacturing Tales: Sex and Money in Contemporary Legends

Ever hear the one about the man who wakes up after a chance sexual encounter to discover he's been involuntarily relieved of one of his kidneys? Everyone knows contemporary legends, those lurid, cautionary tales, always told as though they happened to the friend of a friend. Sometimes we pass them on to others unsure of their truthfulness, usually we dismiss them as urban legends. But these stories tell us a lot about our deepest fears and fantasies.

In fact, a large part of what we know about our bodies we have learned from kids on the playground or colleagues at work, from information contained in folk beliefs, jokes and legends. Sexual folklore goes beyond classroom lessons of mechanics to answer many questions about what people actually do and how they do it.

Mariamne H. Whatley and Elissa R. Henken have collected hundreds of sexually-themed stories from college students in order to tell us what they reveal about our sexual attitudes. They confront myths and stereotypes about sexual behavior and use folklore as a tool to educate students about sexual health and gender relations, presenting these tales in a way that is intriguing and educational.

“As intelligent as it is interesting and funny.” ― Journal of Sex Research

“A must read for sexuality educators and youth workers . . . Fun, clever, engaging and provocative.” —Michelle Fine,CUNY Graduate Center, author of Framing Dropouts: Notes on the Politics of an Urban High School