Book Reviewed: Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage by Rachel E. Gross

Perspectives on the female anatomy Author Rachel Gross explores the female anatomy from a social and historical perspective in eight chapters ranging from the glans clitoris to the egg cell to the vaginal microbiome. Most chapters skew medically dense areas to cause wince for the squeamish. In fact, this book is less to do with scientific accuracy and more to do with the views of a LGBTQ activist who tries to convince the readers that vagina doesn’t mean female anatomy, instead redefine it from non-binary, transgender, and intersex perspectives. She asks medical professionals to de-stigmatize vagina from feminism and women. Many chapters include personal stories of women who had medical issues with undefined genitals and the medical professionals who treated them. She concludes that scientists are still exploring the female body because the gender boundaries are fuzzier than ever. She believes that the gender and sex is a spectrum, and that hormones, chromosomes, and genitals can arrange themselves in myriad permutations. It is suggested that it is wrong for medical doctors to decide whether a child is a boy or a girl. This is the most absurd conclusion for an author writing about the whole idea of women. I did not expect anything stimulating from this over enthusiastic activist who questions the accuracy of scientific and medical opinions. Authors like this are creating unsafe social conditions for women and feminists to enjoy their natural rights, but they are seriously challenged by the trans-women who think they are “real women.”