Naomi Wolf: live webchat TODAY, Thursday 6 September, 12pm to 1pm

[RachelMumsnet]

Naomi Wolf is joining us for a live webchat on Thursday 6 September at 12 noon. Naomi's latest book, Vagina - A New Biography, has attracted major media attention this month and we're delighted she's joining us to tell us more about the book and answer your questions. 

Described as 'exhilarating and groundbreaking', Vagina combines cultural history, physiology and personal memoir to explore the role of female desire and how it affects female identity, creativity and confidence.

Naomi Wolf is author of seven books including the bestseller, The Beauty Myth. She travels regularly to speak about gender equality and social justice. She lives in New York and is working towards a doctorate at New College, Oxford University. 

Please post your question to Naomi in advance, or set the date in your diary to join us this Thursday at midday to chat to Naomi 'live'.

[mcmooncup]

Jimmy Carr is on my tv, my lubrication and engorgement levels are being seriously depleted as we speak.................give me 5 to google Paul Walker/Rupert P-J and I'm ready.

[swallowedAfly]

what time are we wanking?

[garlicnutty]

No, there's nothing there, mcm! My vagina wonders if they're going to put up some work of hers, but are running late? (My vagina's always telling me off for inflicting similar on my clients, tbh )

[mcmooncup]

I've just been that website that Naomi said we MUST READ and then come back to her.......dailycloudt.com

I can't find anything relevant to the discussion - am I being extra dim or is it that I am very unfocused and unconfident because I've still not connected my brain with my vagina today?

[TheCrackFox]

Just read the entire thread and it really should be in classics. My vagina found if hilarious.

[garlicnutty]

Am heartily in favour of vagina emoticons, and I have my vagina's permission to say so

YAY! That should keep Tech busy for a little while ...

[PseudoBadger]

I can't believe no one called it their 'sex' :o

[thenightsky]

OOoh yes... please let's have Jilly on soon!

[MmeLindor]

I will admit to being wrong.

When I read that Ms Wolf was to do a MN webchat, I was rather upset. I thought that it was wrong to have someone who perpetuated rape myths on MN after the strength of the We Believe You campaign.

It was however, a very good webchat, albeit not one that Naomi was hoping for. Either her publicist was a bit disingenuous when arranging this, or she was expecting the hostile reaction, I am not quite sure. It was good to be able to put our questions directly to her, and I was pleased that she realised how much damage that she has done with her letter in the Huffington Post. I can only hope that she follows up with a decent apology, with no spreading of blame onto others.

Am heartily in favour of vagina emoticons, and I have my vagina's permission to say so.

[SarahStratton]

Well, that was a bit of a fun bloodbath.

I'd still rather chat to Jilly Cooper though, or perhaps we could have Boris back to toy with a little more.

[garlicnutty]

Thank you! Yes, I'm always garlicky, though

[pofacedalways]

garlicnutty did you used to be someone else? I like your posts.

[garlicnutty]

Thanks for this, Mumsnet. I was impressed by Wolf's responses and am interested enough in her vagina/self/politics theories to get hold of the book.

I'm not going to dismiss it as reductionist without a proper read and a think. Our vaginas are still culturally associated with fear and shame (often covered up by humour) and it is true that medical understanding of women's genitalia is pretty pathetic on the whole. For these reasons alone, I think it's worth doing a proper investigation to learn more about the defining anatomy of women, and raising its status if you like.

One of the best webchats ever, imo. Credit to Wolf for her directness and professionalism.

[Hullygully]

we could have ol Paggy for the flowery vadge

[BIWI]

Not sure I want [flowersvadge]. I have enough vases.

[Hullygully]

I have suggested it, Oaty

[Hullygully]

YES

Vadge emoticons

top idea

[OatyBeatie]

What we need is for all the emoticons to be replaced by vaginas reacting in various ways [grinningvagina] [shockedvagina] [angryvagina] [confusedvagina] [enviousvagina]

(Not winking vagina though. Too disturbing)

[BIWI]

And



We need a [flabbergasted] too

[Hullygully]

My vagina weeps when Gove/Cameron/Gidiot appear on the telly

So she's right

[SuperB0F]

I rather enjoyed Ariel Levy's comments on the book:

Wolf claims that vaginal slander?referring to the vagina by its "awful" feline moniker, for instance?"apparently affects the very tissue of the vagina." She bases this conclusion on a study of female rates whose vaginal tissue showed signs of change after periods of stress. The experiment did not, however, entail researchers yelling "Rat pussy!" at the animals; stress was manufactured physically. Wolf's interpretation of the science is, as usual, rather free.

[AbsofAwesomeness]

She didn't answer my question about Ali G

[PlentyOfPubeGardens]

Naomi Wolf, you sound like you?re on crack.

(MNHQ please note this is a compliment )

[OatyBeatie]

Hmm, yes, New Statesman article points out her attribution to "sexually threatening stress" of effects that are in fact common to all stress sources and that does seem to be a sleight of hand on Wolf's part. Also, I think she misuses Austin's notion of a performative utterance in one of the quotations the New Statesman article includes.

It does seem increasingly that the book would have been better named after a different sexual organ -- Bollocks.

[UnnamedFemaleProtagonist]

What an excellent blog post. Thank you for linking it, Msrisotto.