Vagina is the title of a book that was written by Naomi Wolf. The book has always sparked a lot of controversy since it was launched. In this book, the author talks about the relationship between the vagina and the brain. The book is a combination of scientific knowledge and cultural history. The author portrays the brain and vagina as a single network which is a fact that many people do not know about.
The level of scientific knowledge depicted in the book is only familiar to top scientists. The book is meant to educate women about their anatomy and at the same time create a sense of consciousness (Wolf 25). Apart from the scientific research that the author conducted, the majority of expressions in the book are very personal.
The author writes about the vagina in a very poetic manner which depicts her liberal mind. The stories in the book are inspired by the author’s personal experiences as a woman. According to Wolf, the horrific personal experience in her sexual life inspired her to research on the cause of her declining sexual sensation (26). This paper will highlight the most critical aspects in Vagina.
The book is a cultural and historical journey with a mixture of the author’s personal experiences (Wolf 78). According to the author, her sexual sensation declined because a neural damage in her lower back. This complication led to a disconnection between her brain and the vagina where messages from the vagina could not reach the brain. Despite the disconnection, the author could still experience her orgasms from the clitoris after losing full-spectrum organisms (Wolf 102).
This personal experience forced the author to seek for an expert’s opinion. The author discovered from an expert that women are different when it comes to sexual response (Wolf 102). This new discovery is what made her to be interested in finding out the relationship between the brain of a woman and her vagina (Wolf 123).
The physiology of female sexuality is a topic that many people do not have the courage to talk about (Wolf 145). According to Wolf, there have been a lot of discoveries in this field that many people do not know about (145). Many women do not seem to understand the physiology of their sexuality and the author takes a personal initiative to educate them through her book. The author uses neurochemistry and neuroanatomy to describe a vagina in the introductory parts of the book.
According to Wolf, the autonomic nervous systems determine the sexual sensation in a woman (146). There is a very strong relationship between the pelvis and the brain when it comes to sexual pleasure. The orgasm in women activates the brain to secrete oxytocin and dopamine which are responsible for sexual pleasure in women (Wolf 188). Wolf argues that many women around the world are not able to enjoy sex due to external factors (189).
The author of this book personifies the vagina in order to emphasize its importance in the life of a woman. According to Wolf, the society has been on a mission to deny women their happiness by targeting the vagina (198). Genital mutilation and rape are examples of practices that prevent women from enjoying sexual pleasure.
The book also highlights the effect of pornography on affectionate sex. According to this book, the addictive and violent nature of pornography makes people to lose interest in real sex (Wolf 205). According to the book, Women’s Liberation Movements led to the elevation of the vagina as the only source of pleasure and not the clitoris. According to Wolf’s observation, this was a plot by men to make women depend on them when it comes to sexual pleasure (205).
The book also targets husbands and boyfriends who do not do enough to give their women sexual pleasure due to laziness (Wolf 222). It is because of this reason that many women go to professionals for sexual pleasure. Women are willing to pay a lot of money to professionals for them to experience sexual pleasure because professionals concentrate on the most sensitive parts such as the clitoris (Wolf 222).
It is not an easy thing to conceptualize the relationship between the body and mind (Wolf 123). The book helps us to realize the connection between the two. It is important to note that all the sexual explorations covered in this book are purely heterosexual. Sexual encounters between men and women have both emotional and physical aspects that need to be explored (Wolf 278).
The author acknowledges the fact that it is difficult to study female sexuality due to its complex nature. Wolf reiterates in her book that female sexuality requires some individualistic attention for it to be understood (279). The author maintains that sexual unhappiness affects every aspect of human life including economies and culture.
This kind of sentiment is meant to emphasize the importance of respecting female sexuality. According to this book, the vagina is the source of humankind and should therefore be respected (Wolf 281). The author made an effort to get her orgasm back by undergoing surgery. The author does a good job to justify her decision to write about a very sensitive issue such as female sexuality.
The author of this book has been criticized for spanking men instead of telling them how they should actually treat women. The research in the book was inspired by the author’s personal troubles. The author values her sexual pleasure to an extent where she endures a very risky surgery to restore her orgasm.
The author portrays orgasm as a major source of happiness in women (Wolf 312). The author tells the truth about the sexual desires of a woman in a very direct manner. According to Wolf’s assertions, the vagina plays a very significant role in determining a woman’s state of mind (292). Mental states such as liberation and confidence are influenced in a great way by the vagina (Wolf 292).
The book mentions all the chemicals within the body of a woman that affect the sexual desires of women. Vagina is the eighth book to be written by this author and its credibility has been largely undermined by her other books. Many analysts see the book as a very vindictive piece without adequate facts. The author wrote the book without any grace and this exposes her to ridicule. All the chapters in the book do not portray the vagina in its original terms.
The title of the book was not received well by readers and it is not known if the so called biography was actually authorized in the first place. The meaning of a vagina has been exaggerated by the author and she portrays it as the only organ that defines female sexuality (Wolf 23).
There are other parts such as the clitoris, the uterus and the pelvic that have not been mentioned in the book. Female sexuality is composed of different parts that are equally important as the vagina but have not been highlighted by the author. All the elements of female sexuality are normally controlled by the hormones produced in the brain (Wolf 64).
The author tries her level best to exalt the vagina and does not stop at anything to demonstrate the fact that men are only interested in women because of this valuable organ. The title of the book was not appropriate because the vagina does not define the sexuality of a woman. The clitoris is the center of sexual pleasure in women and is therefore the exact opposite of a male penis.
The word vagina has been used in an ambiguous manner and the many women who have read the book feel that the author did not do a good job as a feminist. The author agrees in her book that she did no use the technical definition of a vagina to avoid being restricted to the entire female sex organ (Wolf 213). There are a lot of scientific citations in the book but the majority of them are not consistent with the author’s message. The author refers to modern scientific studies extensively to authenticate her arguments.
In conclusion, Vagina is a very informative book that talks about female sexuality. The author does her level best to highlight the plight of women when it comes to sexual pleasure. It takes a lot of courage to talk about a very sensitive topic such as female sexuality. The author cites proven scientists to show the relationship between the brain and the vagina.
According to the author, women have been suppressed for a very long time with some cultural practices which have made it difficult for them to enjoy any sexual pleasure (Wolf 13). Despite some inconsistencies in the book, the author did a commendable job by highlighting the plight of women when it comes to sexual pleasure. The book has received a lot of criticism from different quarters but one can not turn a blind eye on the many realities that have been highlighted in the book.
Works Cited
Wolf, Naomi. Vagina: A Cultural History, London: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.