Sex, Sex and More Sex: 101 Questions and Answers

Moira Harris is a graduate student in animal behavior at the University
of Saskatchewan.

Sue Johansen, Canada’s “sex lady,” currently hosts a weekly
phone-in radio program and a weekly television show called Talking Sex,
addresses more than 47,000 students each year on her speaking tours of
colleges and universities, and has published two books (Sex Is Perfectly
Natural But Not Naturally Perfect [1991] and Talk Sex: Sue Tells It Like
It Is [1988]). For this latest book, she identified the 50 most
requested areas of information; these grew into 101 topics, which she
writes about in a question-and-answer format.

The book has much to recommend it. Sue is sympathetic, encouraging, and
open. Her judicious mix of medical terminology and slang is easily
understandable. The information she provides is wide-ranging,
comprehensive, and clear. Usual subjects of concern (orgasm, sexual
orientation, and sexually transmitted diseases) exist comfortably
alongside the latest trends in sexuality, such as body-piercing, phone
sex, and the new celibacy. She also deals with such emotional issues as
jealousy, anger, and forgiveness and includes suggestions for additional
reading. For the most part, Sue also tries hard to be nonjudgmental; one
area in which this effort fails is anal sex—bum sex is given a bum
rap. Her clearly negative bias is unfortunate since it carries a
connotation of homophobia, which was obviously not intended. The
informative nature of the book, however, along with Johanson’s
matter-of-fact friendliness, makes up for this one disappointment.