Vagina Obscura

An Anatomical Voyage

By: Rachel E. Gross

Narrated by: Siho Ellsmore

A scientific journey to the center of the new female body.

The Latin term for the female genitalia, pudendum, means “parts for which you should be ashamed”. Until 1651, ovaries were called female testicles. The fallopian tubes are named for a man. Named, claimed, and shamed: Welcome to the story of the female body, as penned by men.

Today, a new generation of (mostly) women scientists is finally redrawing the map. With modern tools and fresh perspectives, they’re looking at the organs traditionally bound up in reproduction—the uterus, ovaries, vagina—and seeing within them a new biology of change and resilience. Through their eyes, journalist Rachel E. Gross takes listeners on an anatomical odyssey to the center of this new world—a world where the uterus regrows itself, ovaries pump out fresh eggs, and the clitoris pulses beneath the surface like a shimmering pyramid of nerves. Full of wit and wonder, Vagina Obscura is a celebratory testament to how the landscape of knowledge can be rewritten to better serve everyone.

©2022 Rachel E. Gross (P)2022 Spotify Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Through her seamless storytelling and meticulous research, Rachel Gross shows how long we have misunderstood the bodies of half the people who have ever lived, how much we still have to learn, and how wondrous and rewarding that quest can be. Vagina Obscura is science writing at its finest—revelatory, wry, consequential, necessary, and incredibly hard to put down." (Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of I Contain Multitudes)

"Vagina Obscura is a marvel of a book—lyrical, compassionate, infuriating, insightful, and wise. Rachel E. Gross's exploration of the history, science and politics of female anatomy should be read by women, men, and everybody seeking to be smarter about who we really are." (Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Poison Squad)

Read this book even if you don’t have ovaries!

So good I bought 10 copies for friends. Highly recommend to everyone regardless of gender.

Performance distracted from fascinating content

I read this because it was part of NPR’s Science Friday book club, and because I had an Audible credit, I chose the audiobook. In retrospect, I wish I had read the ebook instead. First, I question the reader’s decision to read quotes by the scientists and subjects with an accented English based on their country of origin. It made no sense especially when many of these people were not writing in English. (Sigmund Freud, for example, comes off as a caricature.)

Then, there were many mispronunciations. I chocked some of it up to the fact that the reader is an Australian actress now based in New York, and perhaps things are pronounced differently. But the weird pronunciations were so numerous, that can’t be the only explanation. Here are some examples:

Plock for plaque
Sty-meyed (long i in the second syllable) for stymied (twice)
Pat (short a) for pate (meaning head)
Summerarily for summarily
Endocrineologist with a long i and a long e (and an extra syllable)
Extestential for existential

And then after going to all the trouble to put on a fake French accent for many paragraphs, reading the writing of a French woman in the ‘20s, she pronounces the sculptor Rodin’s name “Row-dun” (accent on the first syllable.)

Her reading got worse toward the end. Maybe she was tired? Perhaps this reader was not the right choice. Or she could have used a much better director or producer.

I read articles from Smithsonian magazine for people who are blind or are otherwise visually impaired. I am very conscientious about looking up how place names are pronounced, historian’s names, etc. (For example, if I didn’t know how to pronounce Valdosta, Georgia, you can be sure I’d do some research - especially if this was a book thousands of people will listen to.)

The book itself was fascinating. I learned a great deal in spite of the distracting performance.

A must read!

If you or someone you know has a vagina, this book is a must read. ESPECIALLY if you are in healthcare. I honestly want to buy this book for every medical professional I interact with and give it to them as a gift so that they can be better at what they do. It is frustrating AND depressing at a profound level how little our bodies matter to anyone medically or scientifically. It is the best book from my list in 2022.

Incredible!

This book has affectively changed my life. Gross is a master story teller and makes the history of AFAB peoples disparity incredibly fluid. As a woman I am outraged by so many of the themes presented here. A must read, even if you are not AFAB.

Great info! Questionable production choices.

I really enjoyed the content of this book, it was accessible and engrossing.
I hated a lot of the production choices made for this book. While the narrator has a lovely voice and delivery, and brought a great balance emotion and tone to the content, I wish they had been allowed to use their natural accent, because their American accent was just off enough that I found it very distracting. Also, it was clear that nobody with a professional biological sciences or medical background was available to help with pronunciation of medical and scientific terms. I don’t think that a narrator should have to have a degree in the sciences to narrate a book like this, but I feel like they were not set up for success by not having access to a scientific consultant or editor for pronunciation questions.

Fascinating voyage through female anatomy

As. Gynecologist, I thought I knew all of this. But there were very interesting facts that never make it into the medical curricula.
My only complaint is regarding the narrator’s pronunciation of some very basic terminology.

Good overall

Mispronunciation of scientific terms was a little distracting. Good content and it covered diverse stories within the topic.

Please Re-Record This Important Book

The book itself is so well-researched and important. It should be required reading for medical professionals. Women who just want to be more empowered in the doctor's office and in the bedroom will also benefit. This book therefore deserves a decent narrator.

To be fair, I'm a linguist, so I always pay attention to narrators' accents, but usually in passing, or just out of habit. It has never been to the point of distraction until this book. Why was her pronunciation so inconsistent? Why did she randomly slip into a NY/NJ accent, but at other times sound British? Why did she "mispronounce" so many words (i.e., not say them the way an American would say them)? It turns out she's Australian but sells her voice acting talents in different accents. She was a terrible choice for an audiobook narrator. Someone also had the tasteless idea to have her read quotations from foreigners in this indiscriminate non-native-English-speaker accent, even if the quotation had been translated into English from another language hundred of years ago, and even if she has no idea how well the real, living person speaks English. When the voice actor reads quotes from an Australian researcher in her (the narrator's) native accent, it is a relief to listen to. Her voice is excellent for audiobooks. WHY ALL THE ACCENTS?! I considered returning the book so many times, but pushed through because the content is so useful.

Excellent content, awful narration

The reader mispronounces words and reads quotes by voice acting as the speaker. It is distracting from the content, which is accessible and engaging

Vagina Obscura

Fascinating and illuminating. Every woman should be more aware of her feminine parts. Literally Rachel Gross takes us beyond the surface.