Book Reviews

''Illuminating, thoughtful and scholarly'' FINANCIAL TIMES

''Does a fascinating job of exploring the history of women's bodies'' GREG JENNER

''Mind-blowing, fascinating stuff'' BBC WOMAN'S HOUR

''Authoritative, rich and wide-ranging, this is an immensely impressive work of scholarship'' GUARDIAN

Introduction

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.

Focus of the Book

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?