The body and botany: “the first step toward the brothel”

King, Helen (2022). The body and botany: “the first step toward the brothel”. In: Santos Pinheiro, Cristina; Silva, Gabriel A. F.; Fonseca, Rui Carlos; Mota, Bernardo Machado and Pinheiro, Joaquim eds. Gynecia: Studies on Gynaecology in Ancient, Medieval and Early-modern Texts. Porto: Edições Afrontamento, pp. 11–26.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51427/10451/57594

Abstract

From menstruation as “the flowers” to the young girl on the brink of sexual experience as “blooming”, the use of floral imagery for the female body has a long history, crossing both medical and popular texts and covering both the processes of generation and the anatomy of the female organs. By concentrating on three self-help texts from the late nineteenth century, this paper examines the different uses of floral imagery written by women, for women.

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About

• Item ORO ID
• 92600
• Item Type
• Book Section
• ISBN
• 972-36-1977-6, 978-972-36-1977-5
• Project Funding Details

• Funded Project Name	Project ID	Funding Body
  ‘Gynecia: Rodericus a Castro Lusitanus and the ancient medical tradition about gynaecology and embryology’	PTDC/FER-HFC/31187/2017	Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)

• Keywords
• advice literature; generation; anatomy; sexual organs; menstruation
• Academic Unit or School
• Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Arts and Humanities > Classical Studies
  Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) > Arts and Humanities
  Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS)
• Research Group
• Gender and Otherness in the Humanities (GOTH)
  History of Books and Reading (HOBAR)
• Copyright Holders
• © 2022 The Author(s)
• Depositing User
• Helen King