Femalia

I used Femalia in a variety of workshops I present for women, many of whom previously didn't even have words for their sexual parts beyond "down there." And I've found that looking at and talking about these photos often enables women to talk about sexual issues, trauma, abuse or sexual joy, often feeling safe to do so for the first time in their lives. Now that I've begun reading about the horrible new plastic surgery they call "labial beautification," I wish more women had access to a book like Femalia to see how diverse and wonderful women's bodies are. It's intriguing to me that many of the reader reviews posted here by by men who complain that the photos didn't do a thing for them. I don't think these were intended to be sexual turn-ons. And those who've complained that these photos are merely gynecological are missing the point. Unlike men, women can't easily see their own sexual parts. It's important and helpful that these show--in a very realsitic fashion--just how we are made. Bottom line--if you'll forgive the pun--is that I find Femalia to be an incredibly empowering book for the women who've seen it and one of the best teaching tools available as far as female sexuality is concerned.

A number of reviewers here have objected to the classification of the images in 'Femalia' as art, on the grounds that they fail to measure up to their aesthetic ideals. But art, as any public gallery worth the name will attest, is far more than mere pretty pictures. True Art challenges one's worldview. And 'Femalia' certainly does that. It is a brave and lonely voice challenging the contemporary view of the female body, so overwhelmingly submerged in fantasy and falsification.This is an important work. I highly recommend it to any man genuinely interested in the female form, and to any woman estranged from her own.

These photographs are shockingly beautiful, largely because ofthe deceptive simplicity of style. [Some] have complained that the photographs in this book are not "artistic" enough. As I see it, the importance and beauty of this book is its willingness to portray women's genitals in an honest, non-sexualized way. Art or abstraction is entirely opposite to the purpose of portraying the reality of women's bodies, as free as possible from the typical conceptions of Western culture (think of how naked women are usually shown in canonical art, or, better yet, pornography). The remark one reader made that many of the vulvas depicted would scare male readers is quite telling. They might scare a lot of readers, and the confrontation and analysis of that fear is what makes this book immensely important rather than just visually beautiful.

Femalia is a wonderful book illustrating the many variations of vulva. If any girl or woman thinks her vulva is deformed, ugly, etc. this book should help them understand that each vulva is unique and beautiful. The photography was excellent.

This a book mothers should give their adolescent daughters and their sisters and their friends.It is a book women should give their lovers.It is a book the reveals a spectrum of female beauty few have ever seen. These pictures are presented without sensationalism and without censure. They work as art. They work as anatomy lesson. They work as images for a holy altar to the Great Mother of us all.