Financial Times review of Pandora's Box
Jerome Burne at the Financial Times reviews The Story of V: Opening Pandora's Box by Catherine Blackledge.
In the ancient world what we would now term female flashing was a potent act, a pre-Christian version of shock and awe. Merely lifting the skirt to expose a naked vulva could drive out demons, calm storms, scare away bears and even put armies to flight. Dubbed ana-suromai, by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, examples of this vulva-flashing show up in African cultures, in Ulster and even in the Bible where, typically, it is linked with shame.
The Story of V is a fascinating and erudite polemic. Given the strong link between warfare and rape it seems unlikely that ana-suromai was always effective, while a lexically positive attitude to the vagina did not necessarily translate into affirmative action. China's rich and respectful vocabulary for the vagina — "doorway of life", "treasure house", "inner life" — is favourably contrasted with the impoverished and demeaning language of the west. Yet Chinese misogyny — concubinage, foot binding — made the church fathers look like new men.
