Stolen Women: Reclaiming Our Sexuality, Taking Back Our Lives Book

In a groundbreaking work of uncompromising honesty, the nation's leading expert on black female sexuality shatters centuries of myths, misconceptions, and misinformation. Here, for the first time, is the authentic story of African American women's sexual experience across seven generations.

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 selfless 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 We do not have to remain captive to outdated ways of thinking about our lives.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.

". . . astonishing findings." â??Dr. Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant Advice columnist, Essence magazine

"Dr. Wyatt speaks and writes eloquently about the sexual experience of African American women." â??Linda Villarosa Editor of Body & Soul

"Stolen Women gives us what Mama couldn't: a way to be in charge of our own bodies." â??BEBE MOORE CAMPBELL Author of Brothers and Sisters

"Finally, we have the first book that breaks the silence. Dr. Wyatt presents a well-researched and balanced perspective of the sexual experiences of African American women. It explodes the myths, examines our past, and sets the path for our healing and our future survival. This is a book that should be read by anyone who knows or cares about African American women." â??Gloria Johnson Powell, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry Harvard University