Yes, you kinda have to be LIKE a virgin because, really, who knows if there is such a thing as REAL virginity? Hanne Blank, historian and author of VIRGINITY: THE UNTOUCHED HISTORY (2007), certainly makes a girl question the whole story–and virginity IS a story, not a biological fact.

If you haven’t heard of Blank’s thoroughly researched, sharply-written and entertainingly wry history of virginity, treat yourself to a great read–you’ll be glad you did! As you drive to the bookstore, listen to this episode, as we take you through highlights of a history that lays the groundwork for our season on “fallen women.” After all, if you are going to fall, you have to fall from somewhere, and virginity has traditionally been the precipice from which patriarchy most enjoys watching women tumble to their doom.

Join Sonja and Vanessa as they share Blank’s surprising and yet predictable, funny and yet tragic findings, on all things virginal. For starters, what defines virginity? Is there even such a thing as a hymen? Why was virginity thought to give you superpowers? Does Jesus even care about virginity? Why is virginity still seen as a way to cure sexually transmitted diseases? Why–if you could go back in a time machine to ancient Rome–might you consider signing up to be a Vestal Virgin? What’s the link between Martin Luther’s Reformation and the concept of the “old maid” that haunts many a Jane Austen heroine? How are concepts of virginity and colonialism intertwined? And why, dear listener, would you ever think it was a good idea to put a leech…down there?

Along the way, find out why Sonja is a virgin martyr fan girl, and discover the shocking results of Vanessa’s head/neck ratio virginity test.

REFERENCES:

Hanne Blank’s Virgin: The Untouched History is such a great read that we hope you buy it or check it out from your library. Our episode only touches the surface of the detailed and fascinating research she presents on the topic.

If you are interested in Virginia Woolf’s assertion that virginity is a “fetish,” it’s best to read her entire section, "If Shakespeare Had a Sister" from A Room of One’s Own.

We reference several previous episodes: Season 2 Episode 1 explains Gerda Lerner’s theories on the beginnings of patriarchy; Season 4 Episode 5 explores DRACULA and the medical use of wine to help with vampiric blood loss; Season 3 Episode 10 discusses Sarah Waters’s THE PAYING GUESTS and early 20th century abortive concoctions.

Please Note: The internet was not playing nice on the day we interviewed Polly, and though we tried several strategies, we could not totally resolve some technical difficulties. That being said, as you listen, you’ll hear that Polly’s warm authenticity and her lovely personality just totally outshine the tech issues.

No woman totally escapes the fact that she lives in a body made for making other humans. Whether she wants to have kids or not, her body and the society she lives have agendas. Polly Rosenwaike’s moving collection, LOOK HOW HAPPY I’M MAKING YOU, explores the challenges of deciding whether to become a mother, the obstacles to becoming a mother, and the the learning curve of adapting to motherhood.

Named one of the Best Books of 2019 by Kirkus Review, Glamour, and an Editor’s Pick on Amazon, Rosenwaike’s empathetic and beautifully-written collection offers a window into the lives of a dozen women who couldn’t know what awaited them, from trying to get pregnant and stay pregnant, to the hard-earned lessons of what day-to-day mothering involves for each of them.

Join Sonja and Vanessa as they ask Polly about her creative process, how she came up with the concept of the collection, the nitty gritty of working with an editor, what she thinks of first when she writes, how she chose the collection’s clever title, and her literary influences. As we do with all our visiting writers, we ask Polly about a story that shaped her, and we just loved what she shared–you won’t want to miss it!

Along the way, Sonja and Vanessa cast themselves back into the misty past, reminiscing about pregnancy and shiny-new motherhood, and Vanessa confesses that she sucked at breastfeeding.

REFERENCES:
If you do not have a favorite local bookstore, remember that you can always order online from Lawrence Kansas’s beloved bookseller, The Raven Bookstore. Here is a link to Polly Rosenwaike’s LOOK HOW HAPPY I'M MAKING YOU.