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Mythbusting Bodies, Genders, and Sexualities  

Review by William J. Robertson 

 

50 Great Myths of Human Sexuality  

by Pepper Schwartz and Martha Kempner 

Wiley Blackwell, 2015 

 

Unfounded beliefs about bodies, genders, and sexualities are running rampant in Euroamerican 

societies. These beliefs are more than mere misgivings or misunderstandings, they have real effects on 

people’s lives and can support structures of marginalization and oppression. In 50 Great Myths of 

Human Sexuality, Pepper Schwartz and Martha Kempner attack many of these insidious and 

omnipresent beliefs head on, providing a succinct but well cited rebuttal to fifty of the most pernicious 

myths around gender and sexuality. Schwartz, a sociologist, and Kempner, a sexual health writer, draw 

on a wide array of sources across the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities to craft a text 

that is eminently readable. 

 

The text is divided into nine chapters each containing several myths (consecutively numbered 1 

through 50). Chapter 1 focuses on body parts and addresses myths concerning penis size, vaginal odor, 

penile circumcision, testosterone, and binary biological sex. Chapter 2 addresses sexual orientation and 

identity and covers myths about homosexuality and gaydar, bisexuality, transgender surgery, gay 

conversion therapy, children raised by same-sex parents, and child molestation and homosexuality. 

Chapter 3 covers a variety of myths concerning “normal” sexuality, including the differences between 

single and married sex lives, sex and age, and anal sex. Chapter 4 examines myths concerning sexual 

performance, including first-time sexual encounters, simultaneous orgasm, faking orgasms, domination 

and rough sex, masturbation, and aphrodisiacs. 

 



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Chapter 5 discusses conception and contraception and covers myths concerning the health dangers of 

oral contraceptives, withdrawal as a birth control method, condoms, and abortion. Chapter 6 addresses 

sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and myths concerning HIV/AIDS, STI medications, and HPV 

vaccination. Chapter 7 deals with relationships and addresses myths about hooking up, feeling attracted 

to other people while in monogamous relationships, female sexual fantasies, infidelity, and 

(mis)matches in couple’s sexual desires. Chapter 8 addresses health and sexuality and tackles myths 

concerning jealousy, alcohol, pain during intercourse, erectile dysfunction, sex addiction, sexual 

assault, and pornography. Finally, Chapter 9 covers public sexualities and includes myths about sex 

education, promiscuity, sexting, and gay rights. 

 

The myths within these chapters span only a few pages, each with its own references section. Any one 

of these myths could warrant an entire text of its own, so given the project’s scope and size it is 

commendable that Schwartz and Kempner have been able to distill these myths into quickly readable 

and easily digestible essays that cover the most essential points of each myth. Unfortunately, doing so 

also has the effect of erasing or ignoring much of the nuance and subtlety in the gendered and sexual 

lives of humans across societies—these myths are American-centric and largely lack any substantive 

cross-cultural engagement. 

 

There is also the problem that some of the responses and explanations provided by the authors produce 

new myths in place of the old ones. For example, the only mention of polyamorous relationships in the 

entire text is at the end of the myth that “no one is really bisexual” in Chapter 2. The only sources cited 

for this mention of polyamory appear to be psychology sources, which is a missed opportunity 

considering the vast anthropological literature on the place of polyamory in kinship and sexual 

relationships. The definition of polyamory provided by the authors— “a desire to live in romantic and 

sexual situations with both men and women” (p. 48)—is misleading and heteronormative and is 

presented as a synonym for bisexuality. Yet, there are homosexual polyamorous relationships in which 

all partners are of the same gender (which is odd for the authors to exclude from their definition 

considering one of the sources cited for their definition is from a study of lesbians). This may seem 

pedantic, but it is important as polyamory is becoming more known in popular culture and as more 

polyamorous people are coming out and being open about their non-normative relationships that the 

topic be treated with care and not merely reproduce the very problem the text itself is trying to combat. 

  



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Despite these issues and given the project’s inherent limitations, Schwartz & Kempner have written an 

accessible and wide-ranging text that does a good job of addressing many common misunderstandings 

and problematic beliefs about genders, bodies, and sexualities. Their book is probably most 

pedagogically useful for undergraduate courses ranging across scientific and humanistic disciplines, 

though is probably most useful in the social sciences. Any individual myth could make for a great 

introduction to its topic, which could then be covered in more depth in the classroom or in research 

papers or class essays. Any of the myths within this book could also be useful in non-academic settings 

as well, as it is written for an audience that does not need a deep background in these topics or the 

science behind them. 

 

William J. Robertson is a PhD Candidate in the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. 

His research interests involve questions concerning how biomedical knowledge and practice are 

wrapped up in the production and reproduction of sex/gender and sexuality. 

 

 

© 2017 William J. Robertson 


