Our Bodies, Ourselves - celebrating women's bodies in pictures

[LangCleg]

Lovely, sunny day. I'm in a good mood. Just the sort of mood for celebrating the wonder of the female body. So here's a beautiful clitoris. Awesome, isn't she?

I remember that programme Resistance. Fascinating. I thought at the time, can this really be the first time this has been filmed? But there is no aspect of female biology that can't be turned against women to control us.

Sara Pascoe's book Animal is a fabulous exploration of the female body throughout history (in a very funny yet serious way)

The female body is amazing.

SparticusA

ALison Watt's beautiful Folds paintings.

I love Chiamonwu Joy's hyperrealist images of women.

The human race has neared extinction 3 times, once 70,000 BC we may have dropped as low as 40 breeding pairs.

Omg, I've never heard that before. That's mind-blowing!

orgasm was required in women in order to conceive

Yes, I think I remember that being discussed in Antonia Fraser's The Weaker Vessel.

Does anyone remember that biology programme that aired years ago, which showed the female orgasm? It was amazing - it showed the cervix dipping into the pool of semen to encourage it into the womb.

Yes! One of the most interesting books I've ever read is Sperm Wars by Robin Baker. It describes just how active the cervix is in drawing semen into the womb. The penis merely deposits a pool of semen at the top of the vagina; the real work of insemination is done by the cervix.

He also describes how women (unconsciously) use orgasm to influence their chances of conceiving with any given partner. A strategically timed orgasm sheds cervical mucus and so makes for an easier passage for the sperm.

I love this picture

Great wall of vagina

Who is the artist who did the wall of vaginas Noprobllama78 ? I like it

Jamie McCartney. There are 400 on there!! I want to take DD to see it when she's older. (I will point out that they're vulvas )

Sheela na gig

Sheela na gigs are figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva. They are found all over Europe on churches, castles, and other buildings. The highest concentrations can be found in Ireland, Great Britain, France and Spain.

Churches !!!

looks like she could give birth to the whole world.

Nina Paley‘s Goddesses always cheer me up

blog.ninapaley.com/2018/01/01/24-free-goddess-gifs/

Chick oh i love them x

Gifs to die for! And Sheelas!

Has anyone mentioned Courbet’s ‘l’origine du monde’ yet? Beautiful, and I’ll forgive the unabashed male gaze for the reverence the title suggests.

Has anyone mentioned Courbet’s ‘l’origine du monde’ yet? Beautiful, and I’ll forgive the unabashed male gaze for the reverence the title suggests.

Agreed - it’s a male gaze but the title suggests it’s a gaze that’s full of awe at the creative power of the female body.

here she is

I love Clementine Hawarden’s photographs of her teenage daughters, especially this one taken in around 1864. They have such powerful, assertive stances and expressions.

i know that this is about our bodies in picture but i want to add this pod cast from the BBC The Why Factor ..... The Female Orgasm

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04ht7dr

Lee Price paints amazingly - Love this one of hers (because cake in the bath is a Good Idea).

In honour of this thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3302548-nicky-spinks-fell-runner?pg=1 - here is Nicky Spinks, a 51-year-old fell runner and the first person in the world to run a double Ramsay Round. She ran 116 miles in under 56 hours.

Chickling those goddesses are amazing and beautiful!