
Immaculate forms : uncovering the history of women's bodies /
Helen King
Bok · Engelsk · 2024
Omfang | 436 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations
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Opplysninger | Introduction -- Procuring a good breast -- Finding the clitoris -- The disappearing hymen -- Existing for the sake of the womb -- Conclusion: our bodies, our selves, our history. - "Throughout history, religious scholars, medical men and - occasionally - women themselves, have moulded thought on what 'makes' a woman. She has been called the weaker sex, the fairer sex, the purer sex, among many other monikers. Often, she has been defined simply as 'Not A Man'. Today, we are more aware than ever of the complex relationship between our bodies and our identities. But contrary to what some may believe, what makes a woman is a question that has always been open-ended. Immaculate Forms examines all the ways in which medicine and religion have played a gatekeeping role over women's organs. It explores how the womb was seen as both the most miraculous organ in the body and as a sewer; uncovers breasts' legacies as maternal or sexual organs - or both; probes the mystery of the disappearing hymen, and asks, did the clitoris need to be discovered at all?"--Publisher's description
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Emner | |
ISBN | 9781788163873
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