I've been getting excited recently about the final stage before publication of my next book, Immaculate Forms, a history of women's bodies told through four parts: breasts, clitoris, hymen, womb. It's easy to remember the order of the chapters because it's alphabetical, but that wasn't why I did it this way: instead, I am going… Continue reading ‘Trade’ books and ‘academic’ books – what’s that about?
Category: virginity
Hair loss, ancient remedies and the power of colour
On writing for one of my favourite blogs... and finding a remedy in my family's papers!
The speculum finally gets redesigned – by women
concerns about cold, clanking equipment used in gynaecological procedures go back a long way in history
Making a disease from a remedy: Trotula and vaginismus
Here’s a particularly fine case of Bad History, showing that while it’s bad enough to modify an ancient text to make it into a precursor of a modern condition, it’s even worse to misread a remedy as a symptom in order to make a historical text do what you want it to do! Trotula… Continue reading Making a disease from a remedy: Trotula and vaginismus
The Language of God
I’m fascinated by the automatic fill-ins which search engines provide. For ‘Am I still…’ ‘Am I still a virgin?’ is a classic, along with ‘Am I still pregnant?’ and ‘Am I still in love?’ In all these cases I suspect that, if you need to ask, the answer is probably ‘No’. I was recently doing… Continue reading The Language of God
Mistaking histories 