There are also many Paelaeolithic carvings of vulvas in France.

In parts of Africa, the practice of vaginal display en masse as a form of female protest was still used to great effect as late as the 1950s.Īrtistic renditions of such displays have been found in places as diverse as Syria, Milan, Equador and Indonesia. She quotes an account, printed in The Irish Times, of an Irish woman whose lifted skirt drove off an unruly mob bent on attacking her menfolk - this happened less than 100 years ago.

This was believed to calm the elements, drive off devils, increase crop yields and resolve battles between men. Blackledge, who is of the same opinion, traces the evolution of the sheela from Egypt to the Polynesian islands, with the age-old gesture of a woman raising her skirt to reveal her naked genitals. I have long been interested in sheela-na-gigs, interpreting them as protective emblems carved on medieval stone buildings by stonemasons who believed in the power of female sexual energy to ward off evil. What she wanted (listen up, Mr Freud) was to be able to celebrate her sexuality, to view her genitalia as powerful, intricate and intelligent, capable and deserving of immense pleasure and appreciation. Her decision to view the vagina in a more satisfying, empowering way was the catalyst for this book. This word, Blackledge reminds us, probably derives from a global word for women (Kunthi is both a Sanskrit term for the vagina, and the name of an ancient Indian mother goddess). After all, the worst possible curse word in the English language is c**t. And there was a lingering taint of shame.

Yes, it signified the potential for pleasure and childbirth, but it also meant being treated like a second-class citizen. Is this what women want?Ĭatherine Blackledge, a scientist in her 30s, had an ambivalent view of her vagina. Bloated porn and movie industries depict male sexual fantasies, helping to perpetuate the myth that sex is about the male achieving orgasm (it is still assumed that some women will never have an orgasm, but sure, if they can keep their man satisfied isn't that the main thing?) Meanwhile, women are having bits of their bodies surgically removed or waxed off, at vast expense, and discomfort. But what about sex? While one hopes that liberated young women are having a great time on their own terms, real life is not always like an episode of Sex and the City. We know now, of course, that women want equal rights, and they have won many of these in the courts. The Body: It was Freud who posed the question, 'What do women want?' as though the subject was by its nature a mystery, an investigation doomed to fail, writes Katie Donovan.

The Story of V by Catherine Blackledge