Masters of Sex is a show about two researchers in the 1950s–60s who studied human sexual behavior by watching people have sex in real life.
The show is based on the book of the same name by Thomas Maier, who documented the true story of Bill Masters and Virginia Johnson.
Masters was an OB-GYN at Washington University in St. Louis when he met Virginia Johnson, a single mother of two children who took on a role as his research assistant, eventually becoming his partner both professionally and intimately.
Masters and Johnson's relationship was complex and lasted decades, resulting in the publication of several books that revolutionized the way we think of sex.
While their research on homosexuality proved to be harmful, their work on heterosexual relationships helped improve the sex lives of countless people.
Here are some of the ways they influenced sex today, according to the book Masters of Sex:
1. We gained an understanding of the cycle of sex, which, as stated by Masters and Johnson, had four stages.
2. We owe pretty much everything we know about women's orgasms to their research.
3. They also proved that penis size doesn't matter.
4. The myth that your sex life withers away as you age was completely debunked.
5. So was the idea that pregnant women can't have safe sex.
6. They focused on curing sexual dysfunction, ultimately helping save marriages and relationships.
7. And without their work, medicine that will help improve your sex life wouldn't exist.
8. They also started an entire trend of sex therapy clinics that allowed people to speak candidly about their sex issues for the first time.
9. But mostly, they proved that Freud was not only wrong, but quite misogynistic in his beliefs.
To read more about the complicated lives of Bill Masters and Virginia Johnson, and how their research impacted sex today, you can purchase Thomas Maier's book here.
