Did You Hear About The Girl Who . . . ? : : Contemporary Legends, Folklore, and Human Sexuality / / Elissa R. Henken, Marianne H. Whatley.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Whatley, Marianne H.,; Henken, Elissa R.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2001]; ©2001
• Year of Publication: 2001
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

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? Or the tiny gift-wrapped box from a recently departed lover that reveals a horrible secret? Everyone knows contemporary legends, those barely believable, often 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 mere myth. But these far-fetched legends tell us quite a bit about our deepest fears and fantasies. In fact, a large part of what we know about our bodies we have learned informally, from kids on the playground or colleagues at work, from piecing together the 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 and jokes from college students in order to tell us what they reveal about our sexual attitudes and show us how they have changed over time. They confront myths and stereotypes about sexual behavior and use folklore as a tool to educate students about sexual health and gender relations. Whether analyzing popular rumors about celebrity emergency room visits or the latest schoolyard jokes, Did You Hear About The Girl Who . . . ? presents these tales in a way that is intriguing and educational.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Yes, We Are Folk and We Do Have Folklore -- 2. Contraceptive Jelly on Toast and Other Unintended Consequences of Sexuality Education -- 3. You Can’t Get Pregnant Your Very First Time: Understandings of Fertility and Birth Control in Folk Beliefs -- 4. Lesbians Don’t Have Periods and Other Menstrual Folklore -- 5. The Tiny Gift-Wrapped Coffin: Addressing Fears of AIDS -- 6. Of Gerbils and Stomach Pumps: Homophobia in Legends -- 7. The Peanut Butter Surprise: Fear and Loathing of Women’s Sexuality -- 8. The Frat Boy’s Sister and the Chat Room Date: Incest, Accidental and Otherwise -- 9. The Stolen Kidney, Leaping Crabs, and Other Dangers of Sexuality -- 10. I Don’t Believe This but My Friends Do: Using Folklore in Sexuality Education -- References -- Index -- About the Authors