This Is How You Vagina

Gynecologist Williams separates women’s health fact from fiction in her information-packed debut. Medicine’s understanding of women’s reproductive system is historically full of myths, Williams writes, starting with the ancient Egyptians, who believed that a womb could migrate and cause illnesses in other parts of the body. As she considers menstruation, menopause, and giving birth, she takes a look at medicine’s treatment of the vagina throughout history: Victorian gynecological practices required examiners to avert their eyes; in 1920s Vienna, it was believed that menstruating made women toxic; and Lysol was marketed as a vaginal disinfectant in the 1930s. Williams cuts through the noise and posits that things actually aren’t all that complicated—all one needs is “soap, water, sunshine, much like the rest of your skin.” Some passages can read like they’re out of a textbook (“spontaneous decidualization... occurs once progesterone levels start to go down just before menstruation”), which Williams tries to leaven with jokes, though not all of them land (“your ‘humours’ may not be as ‘humorous’ once the period begins”). Still, women of all ages will appreciate the wisdom on offer. (Sept.)