Recent reading:

In VAGINA OBSCURA: AN ANATOMICAL VOYAGE, Rachel E. Gross set out to write a book about the vagina, & expanded her scope to include the rest of the female reproductive system.

The book covers both historical stories and research frontiers. The two chapters about the clitoris are good examples of this range; the first chapter discusses Marie Bonaparte (1882-1962), her interest in sexual psychology that led her to Freud's psychoanalysis, and the disappointing results as she tried to fix her inability to achieve a vaginal-only orgasm. The next chapter covers the newly discovered anatomy of the clitoris & she interviews staff at a French clinic that repairs the damage from genital cutting. It also ends up tying into to the final chapter about vaginoplasty, the construction of a vagina for MtF trans people.

Other chapters discuss Miriam Menkin's 1940s work on human embryonic development that led to IVF, the complexities of endometriosis, the regenerative power of the uterus, and the invention of hormone therapy. The book is excellent popular-science writing, reminded me of Mary Roach's BONK but is less jokey (though Gross does include a few jokes).

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