The Shrinking Goddess
Power, Myth and the Female Body
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A radical exploration of the power and public (mis)representation of women's bodies, from ancient mysteries to the present day.
Wild and strange stories have been told about the female body since antiquity. While legends of poisoned hymens and fanged vaginas circulated, the first creation figure, Mother Earth, fell out of popular cultural history and Christianity introduced the birth of woman, Eve, from a crooked rib. Ranging from the empowering to the absurd, ancient tales about the female figure and gendered body parts have not only survived the twenty-first century but continue to influence modern discourse.
The Shrinking Goddess brings together these myths about the female form and traces subsequent male efforts to 'tame' it. Mineke Schipper examines how women's bodies have been represented since records began - the first Venus and vulva figures date to 40,000 BCE - and around the world, from the so-called island of menstruating men in Papua New Guinea to the Japanese supermarkets and European festivals where 'breast puddings' are still considered delicacies. Drawing together the vast reservoir of myths, proverbs, art, science and scripture that shape how women are seen in the present day, Schipper reclaims the female body as a source of power.
The Shrinking Goddess will appeal to readers of Mary Beard, Angela Davis, Betty Friedan, Germaine Greer, Audre Lorde and Marina Warner
About this Author
Mineke Schipper is a cultural historian and writer. She is the author of seven critically acclaimed works including Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet: Women in Proverbs from Around the World and
Naked or Covered: A History of Dressing and Undressing Around the World.
Her writing has been published in The Times, El Mundo and the Los Angeles Times, among others. Schipper was foreign secretary of Dutch PEN, chair of Index on Censorship Nederland and currently serves as Emeritus Professor of Intercultural Literary Studies at the University of Leiden, with visiting professorships in Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso and China. She received a Royal Order of Knighthood for her contribution to social and cultural studies. She lives in the Netherlands.
Reviews
'Mineke Schipper provides a fascinating and wide-ranging compendium of fact and fiction through the ages.' J. M. Coetzee
'Fascinatingly researched, clearly written and wonderfully illustrated, The Shrinking Goddess takes back the story of the female body and sexuality from patriarchal mythmakers, fearmongerers, and misogynists, both ancient and modern. Doing so, Mineke Schipper opens the way for a dialogue among people of all genders and sexualities seeking to topple the usual hierarchies and find another way, another world.' Jane Caputi
'A cultural and anthropological study of misogyny via global artworks, texts, myths and proverbs. Only by seeing what has been done can we undo it.' New Statesman
'This is a vital cultural study. Forensically researched, The Shrinking Goddess explores the representations - and misrepresentations - of women's bodies via global art works, texts, myths and proverbs. It opens the reader alongside its pages, offering an education, a reason, a deep knowing and a path out of here. World changing work.' Joelle Taylor
'I was very taken with The Shrinking Goddess. I loved the many detailed gems, from origin myths explaining why women dispensed with moustaches and beards which made me chuckle - to taboo stories around menstruation. The author's ease of style and the thought-provoking questions she plants along the way make for an enlightening reading experience. This one's definitely a keeper.' Shahrukh Husain
'Schipper's prose is light, fast-paced and witty, and her analysis is completely gripping.' Sunday Telegraph
'Groundbreaking.' Jasmine Elmer
'Scholarly but compulsively readable, packed with jaw-dropping detail. I found myself telling stories from Schipper's strange treasury for weeks after I read it.' The Observer
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