If you hang out on social media, or read the newspapers, you'll know that the world now has not just a Penis Museum and a number of Sex Museums, but also a Vagina Museum. Unlike Iceland's Penis Museum (actually called the Phallological Museum, which sounds more formal and scientific), containing 'more than 280 penises and… Continue reading Acting up in the Vagina Museum
Category: gender
Vulvagate: why the words we use for our bodies matter
Is it OK to use 'vagina' to cover all the internal and external female sexual organs? 'Vulvagate' reminds us of a lost world of passages, gates and doors.
Exhibiting our past: “This Vexed Question”
There's been a lot of interest online in a temporary exhibition which has recently opened at the Royal College of Physicians in London: "This Vexed Question: 500 years of women in medicine". I was disturbed by some of the media reports, in particular one in Culture Trip which started with the comment that the RCP was 'dissecting… Continue reading Exhibiting our past: “This Vexed Question”
Pandora: the Greek Eve?
(John William Waterhouse, Pandora, 1896) In the beginning, there was – a man. Later, there was also a woman. That’s the basic plot of both the Judaeo-Christian and the ancient Greek creation stories, with woman as a late arrival on the scene. In the first of these Mediterranean traditions, woman is made from man – specifically,… Continue reading Pandora: the Greek Eve?
Being a historian: when the personal is historical
On the theme of my favourite history blogs, as introduced here: another blog I enjoy very much is Nursing Clio. It took me a while to 'get' the title; I used to think it was a nursing history blog, but it's far more than that. The USP, among medical history blogs, is the point that… Continue reading Being a historian: when the personal is historical
Mistaking histories 