A scholar of sexual behavior, she studies factors that influence decisions, actions and responses, largely in relation to HIV. For most of her career, she has also investigated the consequences of slavery, rape, breeding — the centuries when African American women couldn't say no — and the resulting stereotypes of black females as oversexed and immoral.

Overcoming those stereotypes was the focus of her first book for a general audience, "Stolen Women: Reclaiming Our Sexuality, Taking Back Our Lives" (John Wiley & Sons, 1997), which remains in print. Her latest is "No More Clueless Sex: Ten Secrets to a Sex Life That Works for Both of You" (Wiley), which she co-wrote with her husband, Dr. Lewis Wyatt.

But she needs neither books nor federally funded, peer-reviewed, scientifically defensible studies to prove how sexual stereotypes influence behavior.

Ask about that green dress, the one she wrote about in "Stolen Women," the one with the Peter Pan collar and sash tie.

"It was made from material Lewis had brought home from Thailand just for me. I guess that's why I felt so special," she says. She remembers everything about that day 25 years ago, in that hotel outside Cleveland where they stayed while attending his sister's wedding.

As she waited alone in the lobby, two white guys walked out of the hotel bar. One said, "She must cost $100."

Nothing protected Wyatt from that insult — not her wedding band, her doctorate or her very sheltered childhood.