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.
Product Details
ISBN-13: 9781324050537
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Norton - W. W. & Company - Inc.
Publication Date: 03-07-2023
Pages: 352
Product Dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)
About the Author
Rachel E. Gross is an award-winning science journalist based in Brooklyn, New York. A former Knight Science Journalism Fellow and digital science editor of Smithsonian Magazine, she writes for BBC Future, the New York Times, and Scientific American.
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