Vagina Obscura
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Average rating5
A New York Times Editors' Choice A Science Friday Best Science Book to Read This Summer A myth-busting voyage into the female body. A camera obscura reflects the world back but dimmer and inverted. Similarly, science has long viewed woman through a warped lens, one focused narrowly on her capacity for reproduction. As a result, there exists a vast knowledge gap when it comes to what we know about half of the bodies on the planet. That is finally changing. Today, a new generation of researchers is turning its gaze to the organs traditionally bound up in baby-making—the uterus, ovaries, and vagina—and illuminating them as part of a dynamic, resilient, and ever-changing whole. Welcome to Vagina Obscura, an odyssey into a woman’s body from a fresh perspective, ushering in a whole new cast of characters. In Boston, a pair of biologists are growing artificial ovaries to counter the cascading health effects of menopause. In Melbourne, a urologist remaps the clitoris to fill in crucial gaps in female sexual anatomy. Given unparalleled access to labs and the latest research, journalist Rachel E. Gross takes readers on a scientific journey to the center of a wonderous world where the uterus regrows itself, ovaries pump out fresh eggs, and the clitoris pulses beneath the surface like a shimmering pyramid of nerves. This paradigm shift is made possible by the growing understanding that sex and gender are not binary; we all share the same universal body plan and origin in the womb. That’s why insights into the vaginal microbiome, ovarian stem cells, and the biology of menstruation don’t mean only a better understanding of female bodies, but a better understanding of male, non-binary, transgender, and intersex bodies—in other words, all bodies. By turns funny, lyrical, incisive, and shocking, Vagina Obscura is a powerful testament to how the landscape of human knowledge can be rewritten to better serve everyone.
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Definitely a 4.5 and I'm rounding it up.
It feels like I've been on a roll this Women's history month, reading nonfiction books about women's issues - both social and health related - and definitely enjoying this trend. After finishing Pussypedia last week, picking up Vagina Obscura felt like an organic choice and both these books go really well together, even though they are poles apart in tone. I'm gonna try but I don't think I can truly review this book.
So I'll just talk about what I liked about this and what it means to me at this stage of my life. One of the major premises of this book is that vaginas and all its associated organs are some of the least researched topics in healthcare and this is something that has long term effects - which I found particularly true because even though I'm in my late 30s, there are many many things about my body that I still don't know and it feels like even science doesn't know it. With each chapter here titled based on a singular organ (like the vulva, clitoris, vagina etc), the author does a brilliant job giving us the historical research that has gone into learning more about that organ, as well as any contemporary cutting edge research that is going on now, which might lead to exciting developments in the future. While some of the scientific terminology went totally over my head, the author is really great at making the overarching points very accessible to normal readers like me. I really learnt a lot through this book, and while it is always disheartening to see how women's healthcare has been sidelined and ignored and some serious issues pathologized as “hysteria” throughout history, it's good to know that women and transwomen scientists are at the forefront of important research in today's times.
I think I'm doing a really bad job of this review but don't let it prevent you from picking up this very informative and well written book. I'm very glad this exists and is so approachable in its content - talking in detailing about each organ - and is also being inclusive and talking about things like genital mutilation, gender affirming surgeries, unnecessary invasive surgeries on intersex kids and more. I'm very impressed with what I've learnt here and maybe I will also get to checkout some of the books the author has mentioned here which helped in her research.
This has to be in my top 10 for nonfiction. Rachel Gross did such a great job going over the broad topic of vaginas.
There were so many standout parts that I really want to read further about. The differing genitals of other animals. The history and process of gender affirmation surgery. (People that think being transgender is fake should really read that section cause I guarantee you no one would do that excruciating surgery for nothing.) The fact that women basically carry their grandchildren in the womb for a hot minute. The batshit history of gynecology. The Greeks thinking sperm were tiny people that unfolded in the womb (literal tf). The atrocious surgeries and experiments performed on women throughout history, mostly without their full knowledge or consent. Removal of the clitoris on babies, especially when knowing essentially nothing about the area. Transplanting animal sexual organs onto humans and even thinking transplanting straight mens balls would heterosexualize gay men. Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsy — 3 enslaved women that were experimented on by the “Father of Gynecology” and whose suffering led to the creation of the field and are known as the “Mothers of Gynecology.” Truly, if you dont already hate evil men this book will make you wish death on dead people. Its absolutely INSANE how recent most of the history in this book occurred and how men have assumed women were only baby factories since the beginning of time. I honestly think the book couldve been 200+ pages longer. Cases like David Reimer were glossed over — even though it doesnt exactly fit the book topic it wouldve fit great with the chapters on sexual organs/growth hormones. I also hate John Money and felt he wasn`t aggressively damned enough in the short section about him.
This was just an enthralling read where I would have to stop reading just to tell anyone around me about the line I just read.
