Science Friday - Riley Black
"This is something about our own bodies that are so often treated as mysterious and unknown when they’re not unknown. We actually know quite a bit. The topic of this book is relevant to everybody."
Wired - Angela Watercutter
"In Vagina Obscura, Gross looks...at misguided ideas about the clitoris, at the incredible regenerative power of the uterus, at the function of the human body itself. Full of historical accounts and deep reporting, Gross’ book gives stories about vulvas the care and attention they deserve."
Stylist - Francesca Brown
"This book is what we’ve been waiting for."
Gabrielle Jackson
"Well-researched and beautifully told, this story of the vagina exposes an alarming lack of scientific curiosity about female genitals across species and centuries. But its brilliance lies in the revolution it heralds. A gripping read that should inspire significant change in science and society."
Elizabeth Reis
"Rachel E. Gross’s mesmerizing and often humorous Vagina Obscura vividly uncovers the scientific and popular biases that have colluded to stem our knowledge about 'down there.' Gross brilliantly investigates questions regarding sex, sexuality, and reproduction that have been hidden, made shameful, or just never asked."
Ed Yong
"Through her seamless storytelling and meticulous research, Rachel Gross shows how long we have misunderstood the bodies of half the people who have ever lived, how much we still have to learn, and how wondrous and rewarding that quest can be. Vagina Obscura is science writing at its finest—revelatory, wry, consequential, necessary, and incredibly hard to put down."
Bookpage (starred review)
"[An] engaging and endlessly fascinating debut… Vagina Obscura is impressive in its scope and thrilling in the hope it offers to those whose bodies have previously been overlooked."
Sunday Times - Rosamund Urwin
"Vagina Obscura should cause a revolution in how we think about the vagina."
Florence Williams
"With the perfect mix of verve and nerve, clarity and composure, Rachel Gross finally gives this organ system its due. I loved every fold and crevice of this book."
Emily Willingham
"The vagina is having a much-belated moment, and thanks to Rachel E. Gross, now so are the ovaries, clitoris, and uterus. In Vagina Obscura, Gross clears away the linguistic and scientific shroud from the least investigated and most misunderstood structures in the human body and tells their story deftly and beautifully."
Deborah Blum
"Vagina Obscura is a marvel of a book—lyrical, compassionate, infuriating, insightful, and wise. Rachel E. Gross's exploration of the history, science, and politics of female anatomy should be read by women, men, and everybody seeking to be smarter about who we really are."
Library Journal
★ 03/11/2022
Science journalist Gross delivers an enthralling and scrupulously researched poplar-science study of the vagina—its continuous conundrum, the false narratives, and, finally, new awakenings. Slander surrounding the vagina began in the incipient stages of its "discovery" by man, she writes, and it persisted, leaving the organ and the female body in a fog of mysticism and wonder. Gross's book makes a valiant attempt to bring clarity to the vagina, and it succeeds through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach. Examining the vagina through historical, scientific, and political lenses, Gross crafts a piquant narrative that is exemplary of quality science journalism and is nearly impossible to set down. It's fit for researchers, with thorough endnotes and stunning anecdotes from real vagina owners and scientists, but it remains readable and accessible for a multitude of lay audiences. Casual readers and academics alike will revel in Gross's masterful quips that accentuate the frustrating absurdity of the vagina's lore. A must-read. VERDICT Libraries catering to readers interested in history, anthropology, anatomy, and women's and gender studies will want to add this insightful and dynamic book to their collection.—Grace Caternolo
Kirkus Reviews
2021-12-21
Delving into the mysteries of a woman’s body.
A few years ago, when she was suffering from a recurring vaginal infection, journalist Gross, former digital science editor at Smithsonian, realized she knew very little about her own body, particularly her reproductive organs. Aiming to rectify that huge gap in her knowledge, she set out to investigate. Soon, though, she discovered that women’s bodies long have been seen as an enigma to scientists, physicians, and psychiatrists. Instead of producing a “fun and jaunty” book about the vagina, the author makes a lively debut with a fresh, informative examination of women’s entire reproductive system, melding medical history—beginning in Hippocrates’ Greece—with a wide range of interviews and biological sleuthing in research laboratories all over the world. Throughout history, Gross reports, medicine has privileged men’s bodies over women’s. “It was only in 1993,” she writes, “following the women’s health movement, that a federal mandate required researchers to include women and minorities in clinical research.” Even then, research focused mostly on fertility, excluding the many other health issues that women face. Women’s biology, though, has generated much recent scientific interest, which Gross conveys with enthusiasm and clarity through her conversations with gynecologists, bacteriologists, urologists, medical anthropologists, and surgeons. The author also talked with a host of women—some, for example, who were victims of genital cutting and some who have undergone reconstruction of that excision; women suffering from endometriosis and vaginal infections; women born with atypical genitalia who were surgically altered as infants; some undergoing hormone therapy and gender affirmation surgery to transition as women. In graphic detail, Gross explains the complex structure of the clitoris; the particular microbiome of the vagina; the biology of egg cells, ovaries, and the uterus. She also devotes a chapter to transgender women and the pioneering surgeons who treat them. Veve’s illustrations—more Salvador Dalí than Georgia O’Keeffe—impart a sense of disquieting wonder to Gross’ brisk reporting.
An eye-opening biological journey.
