The Story of V

"The Story of V explores how female genitalia have been and continue to be conceived and misconceived. More than two millennia of misinformation has resulted in a western culture where we hold back from mentioning or showing the vagina ; where this organ, when seen publicly, is most commonly viewed as pornographic; and where, of all the organs of the human body, the vagina remains the most clouded in mystery, myth, and biased, out-dated beliefs. In the past, medicine may have misrepresented female sexual anatomy, reducing its remarkable complexities to the notion of a passive vessel, but, as this book shows, science is at last beginning to reveal the true structure and function of female genitalia and the dynamic nature of the vagina's role in both sexual pleasure and reproduction." "With a perspective that takes in prehistoric art, ancient history, linguistics, mythology and folklore, evolutionary theory, reproductive biology and medicine, Catherine Blackledge unveils the hidden marvels of the female form."--Jacket.