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Fruit of Knowledge - Liv Stromquist

A feminist comix novel.

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Max Rabos
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5K views166 pages

Fruit of Knowledge - Liv Stromquist

A feminist comix novel.

Uploaded by

Max Rabos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
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FRUIT OF KNOWLEDGE THE VULVA VS. THE PATRIARCHY LIV STROMQUIST Supervising Editor: Gary Groth ‘Translator: Melissa Bowers Editor: Kristy Valenti Designer: Keeli McCarthy Cover designer: Josefine Edenvik and Keeli McCarthy Production: Paul Baresh Editorial Assistants: Gareth Bentall, Rj Casey, Conrad Groth, Manon Hume, Avi Kool, Minna Lee Associate Publisher: Eric Reynolds Publisher: Gary Groth ‘This edition of Fru of Knowledge: The Vulva vs. the Patriarchy is copyright © 2018 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. Comics copyright © 2018 Liv Strémquist. Original Swedish edition © 2014 Ordfront/Galago. Translation ‘made in arrangement with Am-Book (wivw.am-book. com). Translation copyright © 2018 Fantagraphics Books, All rights reserved. All others images and text copyright, © 2018 their respective copyright holders. All rights reserved, Permission to quote or reproduce material for reviews ‘must be obtained from the author or the publisher. Fantagraphics Books, Inc. 7563 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, (800) 657-1100 ‘wwwefantagraphics.com Follow us on Twitter @fantagraphics and on Facebook at Facebook.com/Fantageaphics. ISBN: 978-1-68396-110-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017957137 First Printing: August 2018 Printed in Hong Kong ‘Thanks to Sara Hansson, Sara Granér, and Livia Rostovanyi 1. MEN WHO HAVE BEEN TOO INTERESTED IN THE FEMALE GENITALIA 2. UPSIDE-DOWN ROOSTER COMB 3. AAH HAA You may thinki’s a problem that the partof the body known a5 the “female genitalia” has been made ininble and shamelul nour culture. -thatit’s seen as embarrassin considered inappropriate to talk \_ about...that it's routinely erased “and hushed up. wand that it doesn’t even have a proper name! You may think thisis due to men’s power insociety— that men have createda culture cfthame and secrecy araund But there’s a MUCH, MUCH bigger and MORE SERIOUS PROBLEM IN OUR CULTURE! ‘Namely, certain men who've been entirely TOO interested in the part of the body Knolwn a5 the “Female genitalia!” Men who are/have been TOO interested in the female genitalia have created ENORMOUS societal problems! Imean, kudos for “following ur bliss,” guys, boti—and many others—would have preferred a SLIGHTLY less driven, goal- oriented approach from men who've been TOO interested in the female genitalia. And to encourage this, Thereby present fo you... It's like how Columbus wanted to name a bunch ef South Ameri can countries after himself and his buddies— ‘any young girl te sit on the bathroom Wor nith a mirror and conclude that sheisa ‘On the other hand, it does seem extremely] important fo inform readers that the agin preordained prporeis tobe filed wth o Penis inthe heat of heterosexval pssion: ‘The vagina 1 doesn Fake Einstein tp igure out my point here: Our CULTURAL nwilingnets fo name and visually depict the wa host likelya major facto! for women who want To furgicaly reduce ter labia Our culture simply WANTS things @ CERTAIN WAY: 1) There are two genders; 2) They are each other's opposite; and 3) They physically complement each other like a “sword and sheath,” as manifested in heterasexual intercourse. Based on these cultural ideals, women's genitals are construed asa “hole” waiting to be filled with a cock—not as organs that existin their own right: SO IT’S OBWIOUSLY A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT WHEN REALITY DOESN'T LIVE UP TO EXPECTATIONS! 40 The website of plastic surgery clinic Viktoriakliniken states After puberty, the inner labia can be perceived as too tong they hhang far below the outer labia ‘When the woman is standing, this ‘can give the impression of alitie Penis," which some women may find embarrassing. “The female genitalia can give the impression of a little penis” is NOT what I wrote in my track "Det e deja villhall? 2 Well, OBVIOUSLY, that is ALL WRONG!!! "The female genitalia can give the inpression ofa little penis” is NOT a att eh ts NY Being and Hethinges ree) I mean, it’s not like I wrote “tte with my spear and you With your little penis!!!” “The female genitalia can give the impression of a little penis” is NOT whatI expected when I found the Pioneer plaque and traveled millions of light-years to Earth to meet THIS woman!!!! SHE LOOKS NOTHING LIKE HER PICTURE!!! a external sex organsill DAMN, I get so cheesed off when T expecta gitl NOT fo Am Lright, guys? ixorgant and then it turns ovt she HAS 3 ti Tim sure you've heard gender referred to.as stro Butin the case surgery, We car SOCIETY LITERALLY CONSTRUCTS = aa as decided OY sc dtese! Ponce sis NATURE hin Tine. Snip snip! BUT THERE’S ALSO AN ANCIENT TRADITION OF DOING THE OPPOSITE... THAT IS, PUTTING THE VULVA on bispLay. TAKE MY HAND AS WE JOURNEY TO THE CRADLE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION> In one of the Homeric Hymns (33 anonymous poems from ca. 600-500 BC) there isa myth called “fo Demeter,” which goes like this eee ort es eon Beside herself with despair over her daughter's disappearance, Demeter wanders the countryside lacking the will to eat or drink Asher body grows more and more emaciated, all the plants and erops around her stop growing and eventually die. On the brink of starvation, the people beg the godstor help. AND THEN A VERY INTERESTING “, « ¢« «CHARACTER SHOWS « + UP IN THE STORY: . ‘ IAMBE. HMM, WHAT KIND OF “QUIPS AND JESTS,” EXACTLY? Aecording to the myth “Having spoken thus, Baubo lifted up her dress and showed all the indecent parts of her body.” lay figure reece caTOOEC “Ando the goddessleughed—loughed in her eart—and received the shining cup, inthich the malt wot held” BUT IT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN AN INSPIRING—AND HUMOROUS—GESTURE. Ritval display of the vulva was common in festivals honoring Demeter, as well as inether religious cuts whose members were predom inantly women* 46 Aristophanes writes about women inthe Greek city of Eleusis who gathered at the temple of Demeter, exposed ‘their genitals to one another, sang, and ate sesame= honey cakes in the shape of vulvas.” There are also accounts of women in Egypt ca. 400 BC, who, in festivals honoring the cat-goddess gap Bastet, would call out to | female spectators and perform a dance in which they showed their vulvas." As recently asthe 18005, European fables featured women defeating the evil by exposing their genitals him 4 Coppers. by Chorler Toro fable by Jean de La Fontaine Ta the Middle Ager, seulptores oF naked omen with parted legs were placed on the wallsof monasteries and church, af guards at thevilage gates, or above the meas Jor oF ordinary hourer These figures called sheela-na ‘re mosteommenin ireland on England and are often asociated with Celtic eultoral radition= rly arppin eyo pooteun ty egiany “Barbara Freitag, Sheela-nacgigr Unraveling an Trigma (london Rovtledge, 1008.” But they're found in many other countrins, toa This oneip from a conventin Poitiers, France (ca. 100%). We don't know why dheela-na-gigg were created or hat the name means However, ‘many are worn smooth fram being touched, thigh might mean people fouched them 2 receive Some sort of bessing. (Or maybe people simply liked touching them Shenae ‘AangueD 4467 PO seeps on aa theory is that sheela-na-gigs represent an Irish ere PAPEL a erent eee ea ra ery ieee One re Sea rare These days, Morrigan it a popular fantasy character whe, regrettably, is esvally drawn Tike this Figures with exposed vulvas are found all over the world. Another example is the Dilukai of Micronesia: wood sculptures with legs spread wide and hand; on their thighs, exposing a large, triangular vulva. Dilvkai were placed above the entrances to houses, where they were thought to ward off evil spirits Christian missionaries Wweren'rexacth thrilled about the the Caroline Dilokei (hat? no This one is from i lands, Palaw, way!) 0 they insisted 00.1800;-early The carvings were 1900s. women whe behaved immoral. Another exanpleigorivortp wbichiswidely | | Sculptures depict the goddes either practiced inlndia. The yon (lve) is cclebrated Iying on her back with her legs opart, or ararscredplace,achormelforsbie peters | | Shasdingina straddle poston whi her 3 Uhordhippers stond by the gateway to commie myteres (Vo, p81 eneath her” Tengeaveany one eeOrG inne oppo tnditeas ane Displays of the vulva go REALLY far back in our culture. The world’s oldest known carvings and sculptures are a veritable cornucopia of vulvas. These 30,000-year-old engravings at fe Abri Blanchard rock shelter in France, for example, depict semicircular, triangular or bell ghana uulvor. Figures with oversized volvas were quite common throughout the Stone Age This one’s southern France, ea: 23,000— 21,000 BC. 50 This one wos found in the megalithic temple Hagar Gim on the island of Malta. It dates from ca. 4000 BC-* Here’s one from Greece, ca. 300-6100 BC.* careers ere ene en Peeters eae erie: If, too, is equipped with a rather robust vulva. eee ae Perry eae eis (Der Spiegel [The This relief from Laussel, France, has ‘one hand on ts belly and the other holding @ horn. The horn has thirteen nofches—the number of lunar months/menstrual cycles in a year (25,000-20,000 BC). Archaeologists have the annoyin: Nicieasleseh hots eeoneing “Venus,” asin the goddess of love. For example, some dude named this one the “Venus of Laussel” which it lavtomatically associates it with love and sex. BUT A LOT OF EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT THE SYMBOL OF A VULVA HAD A MUCH BROADER EXISTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE. Velva-bearing figures like these have been found in graves all over eastern Europe. These two were found in Bulgaria. Others have been found, for example, in the graves of 1-10-year= old girls in Moldova (5000-3000 BC). of a course, it’s EXTREMELY difficult to know why people in Stone Age, etc., kept drawing/sculpting vulvas like this a CEs So naturally there are lots of theories. But two things are UNDENIABLE: 1. During this era, the vulva (as evidenced Da tur CNR oa UM eer] ae uur ee ae eee ee ee — CONTRARY 10 the sacred/spiritual/existential L., People didn’t feel the same sort of panic about connection With the vulva that has developed in recent history. pore ae 0) ee of humans into space, it would Le eee ee But instead more eta MEANWHILE, IN SPACE: 6 OK! Here comes a chapter about orgasms AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, ORGANIZATIONS, NEWSPAPERS, MEDICAL EXPERTS, PT ce ee aa a tty MATERIALS ABOUT SEX. ON THE SUBJECT OF ORGASMS, THIS INFORMATION—THAT IS, THE CULTURAL NARRATIVE—HAS SOME COMMON THEMES. FOR EXAMPLE: incapable of having ter what tools or siform.se, “Orgasmens Hemligheter” A woman doesn't necessarily want n orgasm every time she tus interruptus CCoitus interruptus is when the man withdraws his penis from the vagina before ejaculating, torres" Digatoant Hasiechae” *Biology textbook (Gleerups, 2008) IF WE SWAP THE GENDERS IN THESE TEXTS, WE SEE THAT THE CULTURAL NARRATIVES AROUND MEN’S AND WOMEN’S ORGASMS ARE VERY DIFFERENT. It’s hard to imagine informational materials on sex that look like this: Some men are in et) Ceres eee act terminates before the woman has Sometimes he’s satistid just to feel nn ear ed demess WHY IS THIS? THAT Is, WHY DOES THE CULTURAL NARRATIVE TELL US THAT FEMALE AND MALE ORGASMS ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS: THAT THE FEMALE ORGASM IS COMPLICATED, HARD TO ACHIEVE, AND NOT NECESSARILY IMPORTANT TO THE WOMAN, WHILE THE MALE ORGASM IS (TOO) EASY TO ACHIEVE, INDISPUTEDLY DESIRED BY THE MAN, AND TAKEN FOR GRANTED As PART OF “HAVING SEX?” In his book “Making Sex,” historian Thomas Laqueur writes that female and male orgasms—prior to the Enlightenment—were NOT seen as two different things. INSTEAD, PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT WOMEN NEEDED TO HAVE ORGASMS IN ORDER TO GET PREGNANT! Asa result, midwifery manvals and other fexts included lots of advice and tips on how women could achieve orgasms” (epasanelai the pepolerier acual sad ideifery book Arhtotles Morterpiece published in 1664, ays that without orgasm, “the fair sex would neither desire Boptelemblacet neknate plone hen hot concen by thems Ohne! Doyee think Repu pee Seyouventta gethnocked up eh? Tathat eae Treconmends ne sre 2) no runny cheese and 8) ciforal stimulation belie That as pret ‘oti “The best way to ensure pregnancy, it was Inthe 1740s, the newly married ‘thought, was for the man and the woman Princess Maria Theresa of Austria ‘2 came simultaneously So the manuals wrote a letter to her doctor, oki offered helpful hints fo make sure the elon done See) Woman didn’t get toe araused and come before the man.* What should Tdote get pregnant? MATT Thinkebout "Think about ie Detah Eortlndio “ CETERUM CENSEO Pa, aB SSIMAE MAJES- hie es COITUM TOWARD THE END OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT, HOWEVER, MEDICAL SCIENCE (AND THOSE WHO BELIEVED IN IT) STOPPED REGARDING THE FEMALE ORGASM AS PART OF THE : REPRODUCTIVE PROCESS. ] Thiswas NOT | | 1: For example, in reproduction manuals at that time, the erat standard advice for women who wanted to avoid gettin of scientific | | Pregnant was to have sex about aweek after the end of their rogressinthe | | Period (i.e, what we now know to be the MOST fertile time) Reid of human reproduction. No, removal of the female orgasm fromthe reproductive process was art of a much farger cufturel shift—IN THE WAY, WOMEN’S AND MEN'S BODIES WERE PERCEIVED. were festicles. scrotum, and the ovaries The most nfloeatiol ph; antiquity, Clovdivs Galemos (127-199), Tikened the female sex organs to tre eyes of agarden mole: et elie Soee Itisthesame WIE the vagina isa With women's forever-unborn genitalia: penis and the uterus is a stunted scrotum.” So.a woman's sex organs were seen a a kind of abnormality, a less perfectversion of a man's. FUNDAMENTALLY, THOUGH, MALE AND FEMALE BODIES WERE THE SAME. Bodily fluids such a5 blood, fat, milk, and sperm weren't seen af gender-specific, either, but rather ‘5 variations of the same type of fluid—a fluid that was found in every human body." Menstruation, for example, was the result of women having a surplus of ‘blood because they were “cooler” than men. But men could also have a surplus of blood, which they shed via nosebleeds and hemorrhoidal bleeding.* Fat was also a type of transformed blood. For example, Aristotle said that fat people—of beth genders— have less sperm, because their sperm isinstead bound up as body fat. Aristotle also wrote: andi you mil them, they wil produce more.t how Aristotle described the female sex er “The tube has its opening above the place through which women urinate.* isthat there was generally understood fo be ONE BIOLOGICAL GENDER- ive. male—and that women possessed a less perfect version of it. 191554, Halian anatomist Realdo Colombe announced that he had discovered a WHOLE NEW ORGAN: the clitoris. His discovery was the subject of heated debate, ‘a5 others claimed that the organ was already known. Inthis reality, orgasm sastios sonnel property, deepl Eetcdaed ne universel human body. since the ind Inher midwifery manual, 17th- century midwife Jane Sharp writes: ONE SEX, The itor ONE BODY, woman's penis. GROUNDED IN SIMILARITY, with the male body considered the norm. “a It will stand and fall as the male member doth, and makes women lustfel and take delight in copulation.” In 1612, physician Jacques Duval wrote: In French itis called the female rod and the scorner of men: ‘and Women, who will admit their lewdness call it their Realdo Colombo described the clitoris this way: Also inghe Vth century, obstetrician rangois Maurice wrote: I you rob itvigorously with a hi, or touch even with 9 Fitie finger, Semen shifter ‘than air flies ‘thisway and that on account 3 of the pleasure, cep ‘them {\vomen) Cavaing The clitoris functions justlike the penis.* 6s The clitoris ig where the Authorot Nature has placed the seat of voluptuoosners—as He ras inthe glans penis Where the mest exquisite eng biityis iohated, and where Hieplaced the origins oF laseiviousnessin Butin the late 18th century, attitudes toward human sexvality changed RADI- CALLY. Around the year 1800, scholars suddenly agreed that the definitive basis for everything is that men and women are DIFFERENT. Pen cea becom: at] eee er a Tn Natural History of the Woman (1803), Jacques-Lovis Moreau writes: ‘Not only are the sexes different utthey ave differentin every conceivable aspect of body and fou), nevery physical and moral spect To the hysiclan or thenaturalst ‘the relation of oman fo man opporitons andl Uontrosts eae Ode Beenie People are now fixated on DIFFERENCES Physician Jeon Lovis Brachet in his 1847 book on how to cure hysteria, writes: ‘Allparts of her body on fame dfferencer ll eupert eonan ty brow, the nose, the eyes the mocha fee 220 the chin the cheek we shift our view tothe infde, and withthe help of the scalpel lay bare the organs, the Risves, the berg we encounter ‘veryishere. the same "difference: - Today's cultural perception that men and women ‘ore DIFFERENT—in ana specific-yet- hard-to define way—isa remnant of that time. Gender Equality ‘The Sweden Democrats believe there are inherent diferences between most ‘men and most women which go beyond \hat i visible to the naked eye, We also believe that, in many ‘cases, male and female attributes are complementary to each other. 6 Well, society in general was BUT WHY DID THIS | 3-3 reton grit IDEA ARISE ‘hase DURING THIS PAR- TICULAR PERIOD IN HISTORY??? Rou can'thave any power because S ti is Gon’s People were compelled to come up With @ SCIENTIFIC justification. You can’thave any power because you have a UTERUS... BD SEXUALITY PROVIDED pease aS uh le gaits [et ss Hence the idea that female sexvality is dependent on emotional intimacy, while male sexuality is disconnected from emotions Women want ‘relationships! ies! not sex) eval) NBiepss viewed as earnal,libidinous, and driven by Prior to the Enlightenment, .9., during antiquity, it was the WOMAN Whe was biological urges, while MEN were thought to possess self-control and enjoy sophisticated, intellectual friendships Cas Neng eg sl Tn the puritanical Christian tradition, all women were regarded as heirs to Eve's low morals and lack of self- contre. "Daughters of Eve” were therefore more easily swept away bj passionandlust. tas BUT AFTER THE ENLIGHTENMENT, A WHOLE NEW IDEA TOOK HOLD: WOMEN’S EROTIC DESIRES WERE VERY WEAK-OR COMPLETELY LACKING. Doh, Philosophie cal debates! gh cU5ting hexamete; nether guyilt For example, a 15th-century witch-hunting manval warns: Carnal lust:.. in Women i insatiable. * Tnstead of discussing how women could achieve orgasms, people now debated whether the female orgasm even existed. During the 17th century an ENORMOUS amount was Written about women'slack of sexuality. Physician William Acton wrote: The mejerity of womenare yet ‘8 rauchitreveled S by sexval feelin any kind” Physician Adam Raciborski wrote: Three \ cuarters of siivemen B mmercly endure tie embrace of their husbands Otte Adler, a German experton the subject, said: As many 05 0 percaxt of women suffer from sexual anesthesia.* Inthe popular 14th-century pseudoscience of phrenology, it was claimed that: st i pee bears wit In his 1896 book “Prychopathia Sexvelis," Physician Richard von Krafft Ebing wrote Toamacheg Veena etter hosbut little sensual jood thing! and fool life” would be empty words.* WOMEN’S LACK OF PASSION WAS ESSENTIALLY TREATED LIKE A me BIOLOGICAL MARKER | foo DIFFERENTIATING THEM FROM MEN. (3.5 The construct of the passionless woman meant that women were perceived as more moral and civilized than men, which gave them a sort of Jseudo-power.* Socialist feminist Anna Wheeler (1780-1848) wrote: Liberal feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), author of one of the first] feminist texts, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, wrote: i i) () Men are eereinly the inilvence of their appetites than women! ope BUT THE PRICE i icrinonil® “MI OF THIS MODEST uy PROMOTION IN SOCIAL STATUS WAS THE TOTAL ERADICATION OF THEIR OWN SEXUALITY. RCRA CL tec =a, WTS a) Sea Ste IN PARALLEL, AS A CONSTANT P PO Ted vy You've been 5 ! arn oxtaling i made any kind of past 8pm! f Con aes eta Cree Butthere’s another reason why women’s Becell Otte aley tHe Gara sexvality vanished in the 1BO0¥!I! eater the cond sctey astvdyand IT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH HOW SOCIETY DEFINES SEX. Nae a tess AT OTTO’S STUDY, yas Sy a esi INTERESTING! oa eee eee cee In other words, the DEFINITION i of “sexual anesthesia” was a woman's INABILITY TO REACH | ORGASM THROUGH VAGINAL INTERCOURSE WITH A MAN= THIS IS THE SAME CULTURAL VIEW OF SEXUALITY EXPRESSED BY FREUD SEVERAL YEARS LATER IN HIS FAMOUS PRONOUNCEMENT ON CLITORAL WS. VAGINAL ORGASMS. THUS BEGAN : ef A NEW AND = EXTREMELY DEPRESSING Fae Bo] ERA FOR FEMALE SEXUALITY. The clitoris, which, “for two millennia, | Inmedical literature, it was quite common hadbeen regarded asa precious jewel,” | not toidentifyt was now relegated to obscurity. * images of the ge “Taber's Cyclopedi TEXTUAL ANALYSES FROM | ‘edt biies 1900-1950 SHOW THAT THE WORD “CLITORIS” WAS USED VERY INFREQUENTLY DURING THAT PERIOD. —> informational The hugely popular al Dictionary” recently asits THIS TOO is part of the heteronormative social construct of genders a genitals onesies marked Dr CONTRASTS: "itcpeneced depress set Up af natural counterparis, created for each other and mn fois noforal nevi "irate was no room forthe eters |” Nafera iting Maman band in glovel Freed alicicaled tec”? | THE PROCLAMATION OF THE SUPERIORITY OF VAGINAL ORGASM SUCCEEDED IN MIND- givresc. | Fuckin GENERATIONS ‘rgesmv'o OF WOMEN INTO THINKING apport! THEIR SEXUALITY WAS NONEXISTENT OR DEFECTIVE BECAUSE THEY COULD “ONLY” ACHIEVE CLITORAL ORGASM. ‘One woman whore mind was THOROUGHLY fucked by Freud's views onfrigidity and the female orgasm wat Princess Marie Bonaparte (1882-1962), She believed she was “frigid” because she could NOT have an orgasm during vaginal intercourse with her husband, Prince George of Greece and Denmark. Helol Im the prince of Greece ‘AND Denmark, WAY do I find so DELICIOUSLY PLEASANT to masturbate buts DREADFULLY UNPLEASANT fo be boinked hour after hour day after day by Prince George of Gresce and ee, Dormont! 1 PRINCESS MARIE BONAPARTE DECIDED IT WAS EASIER TO SURGICALLY RELOCATE HER OWN CLITORIS THAN TO SIMPLY RELOCATE PRINCE GEORGE’S HAND!!!! Marie Bonaparte concluded that her clitoris must be in the wrong place—it was too far from her vagina. $0, SHE ENLISTED THE HELP OF A'SURGEON TO MOVE HER CLITORIS CLOSER TO HER VAGINA!!! Int 160s there was a AUGE breakthrough when researchers Masters 8 Johnson published the world’s first-ever sexology stody-" The study showed—guelle Surprire—that the clitoris central to women's sexuality SURPRISE! The clitorisis central te women's sexuality] Tetook ui 10 years o é testorch to 9 | figure that out! This was seen as big news which, according fo “Thomas Laqueur, 1 utterly bonkers ae BUCA; A GREAT WAVE OF AMNESIA DESCENDED ON SCIENTIFIC CIRCLES AROUND 1900, AND HOARY TRUTHS WERE HAILED AS EARTH-SHATTERING IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY." 151972, feminist Shere Hite conducted a large-scale survey in which she asked women hewthey most easily achieved orgasm. Two-thirds of respondents said thay did NOT reach orgasm vie vaginal intercourse alone butinstead required clitoral stimulation. Two-thirds of Women are Slike Marie eT Bonaparte, Tay gram nthe aricle "Tica ‘orspel” [Seven naughty foreplay ideas) Exresien (1/10/2069), eterna Tanaceh wes Tn other words *sex” ean be divided Into “serious! and “non-jerious” “foreplay,” "warming vp,” and what “many women need” outside the scope ot "erious ex.” Shere Hite included the survey resulfs ‘5 part of a broader criticism of how society defines “having sex.” Inourcelfor she argead eve institutionalized ex fo follow a template designed to produce male orgasm af easily a possible. DK for about ret deliog ex! a whatevermakes ME come tie ofc? TLord/Lady and Servant a E BUT WHAT DOTENOW/IILM NOT THESEX ExPERTO ANYWAY society couldjust as easily have decided that the entire J A heterosexual act revolved around the clitoris—and everything that coe eee ‘af terplay”—and that ea aa Leann quick hand job, for example. You get the ideal!!! My girl iss0 amazin, $0 LONG after she comes, becsussah horny me tobe satisfied! { She keeps going for OMG i THAT IS SO SWEET! Ugh, Ifeel so pressured when all the focus is enmel! Tean't relax { when] know she'sjust waiting for me “o.comell RIGHT??? I feel like T have to come for HER sake— so she won't feel ‘unwomanly! It's hard for ME Perelesiand cone because my bedy is 50 Ugly when te dowal I's hard for ME to relax and come because I'm paranoid that I forgot to take my mele birth contre pill MY male birth control pill has made me lose sy sex drive completely! According toPlaybay magazine: THIS ile NEW LIFE INTO THE 1D DISPUTE WER VAGINAL VS. CLITORAL ORGASM. FINALLY, IN 1998—AFTER THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF REALLY, REALLY SHODDY RESEARCH— SOMETHING TRULY INTERESTING HAPPENED. Glans clitoris, Urethral opening _ Vestibular bulb Crus clitoris Vaginal opening RECENT RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT THE CLITORIS IS EVEN BIGGER— AND ITS NERVE ENDINGS MAY BRANCH OUT OVER A LARGE AREA. French gynecologist Odile Buisson writes: This renders the whole eliforal vaginal debate meaningless, since ellergesms derive from the clitoral complex.* NOTE THAT THE aa 4s es aS ye st EET Imagine if another organ— say, the pancreas—had been DESCRIBED COMPLETELY WRONG BY EVERYONE UNTIL 1998! ‘Now imagine that DECADES AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF THE ORGAN'S ACTUAL SIZE, BIOLOGY TEXTBOOKS WOULD CONTINUE TO GETIT WRONG— TEXTBOOKS PUBLISHED IN 2006 AND STILLIN USE TODAY!! Anywayllitit S0, YOU COULD SAY THAT THE MODERN VIEW OF GENDER-THAT GENDER IDENTITY IS TIGHTLY BOUND TO BIOLOGY, THAT THERE ARE TWO GENDERS, AND THAT THE TWO GENDERS ARE MARKED BY OPPOSITION/ CONTRAST/COMPLEMENTARITY—WAS BORN IN THE 19TH CENTURY. Anders Henrksson, Biolog (Malm: Gleerups, 2002), OF COURSE, THEY COULD eu eka Dat Another exemple of the 200-year focus on DIFFERENCE in construction of gender Certain similarities between male and female senvality re ignered—female ejaculation, for instance. Tris deseribed atlength in medical books from the 1600s, but then it disappeared from the literature and basically wasn't mentioned again until the 1180, when nurse Beverly Whipple began studying and writing about it Hello! Theres fucka Pings female ‘ejacu= lation! For most ofthe 10th century, female sjeccloton was instead treated os form of erinary incontinence andi ili PERT WE Inthe Uk, forexample,eenrorship lowe sill prevent porn fl from showing female jacvlation, with the rationale hat Phe in the eyes of tre lay, the ‘combination of urine and rex obscene We And thats: 18s I eee! My point here is that ALL discourse on “female sexuality” ond “female orgasm” has ALWAYS been framed in relation fo the male bedy/sexvalitylorgasm, First, you'll recall, as a lesser version—and later as an OPPOSITE. BUT NEVER IN ITS OWN RIGHT. rl

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