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Image of the Hidden Body

October 27, 2004 10:00 AM posted by kerri : track it (0)

Natalie Anglier, author of Woman: An Intimate Geography, articulates the various perceptions of women. Representing her own feelings, Anglier writes:

...the idea of pairing wine and women isn't a bad one, as the acidity of the vagina in health is just about that of a glass of red wine. This is the vagina that sings; this is the vagina with bouquet, with legs" (53).

Compare that to another view of the female body:

"As recently as the nineteenth century, physicians argued that the uterus competes directly with the brain for an adequate blood supply. Thus any effort a woman made to nourish her mind through education or career could come only at the expense of her fertility" (85).

Is patriarchy or sexism a result of how society or an individual perceives the female reproductive system? How does this come into play with the role of women in the 2004 elections?

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Posted by: Internet Marketing on November 24, 2004 07:10 PM |

I don't think that sexism is a result of how people view the female body - I think it is the other way around. I would argue that most negative views of the female body came from people who were already sexist. For example, doctors threatened by woman midwives encroaching on their trade, wrote that woman were of the dry and cold humors and that men were warm and wet. The penis on a woman had sort of been sucked into their bodies. There was even a story where one doctor claimed a woman was running (and therefore became warm) and she jumped over a creek (becoming more wet) and her penis fell out. Most attacks against womens intellect and bodies has come from people who wanted to discredit women - usually because of some sort of a power struggle.

Posted by: Rorey on February 11, 2005 12:32 PM |