Fruit of Knowledge: The Vulva vs. the Patriarchy

From Adam and Eve to pussy hats, people have punished, praised, pathologized, and politicized vulvas, vaginas, clitorises, and menstruation. In this graphic nonfiction book, drawn in chunky, punky pen, Swedish cartoonist Liv Strömquist traces how different cultures and traditions have shaped women's health and beyond. Her biting, informed commentary and ponytailed avatar guides the reader from the darkest chapters of history (a clitoridectomy performed on a five-year-old American child as late as 1948) to the lightest (vulvas used as architectural details as a symbol of protection). Like humorists Julie Doucet (Dirty Plotte), Alison Bechdel (Dykes to Watch Out For), and Kate Beaton (Hark! A Vagrant), she uses the comics medium to reveal uncomfortable truths about how far we haven't come.

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Published: 09/04/2018
Pages: 144
Weight: 0.9lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.60w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781683961109
Age: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/23/2018

About the Author
Bowers, Melissa: - Melissa Bowers is a translator and editor. She lives in Seattle.Strömquist, LIV: - Liv Strömquist was born in Sweden and lives in Malmö. She is a radio host with a degree in political science. An activist, her left-leaning, award-winning comics have been published in zines and magazines. Fruit of Knowledge has sold 40,000 copies in Sweden, been adapted for the stage, and has been published worldwide.