Florence Schechter | |
---|---|
Nationality | British |
Education | Biochemistry BSc, 2014 |
Alma mater | University of Birmingham |
Occupation(s) | Museum Director, Author, Public Speaker |
Employer | Vagina Museum |
Website | www.floschechter.com |
Florence Schechter is the founder of the Vagina Museum. [1] She is also a consultant, science communicator, comedian and public speaker. [2] Her debut book, "V: An Empowering Celebration of the Vulva and Vagina", was published by Penguin Random House in March 2023. [3]
Schechter graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2014 with a BSc in Biochemistry. [4]
In 2017, Schechter founded the Vagina Museum [5] after discovering that there was a penis museum in Iceland, but no vagina equivalent anywhere in the world. [6] She is the Vagina Museum's current Director. [1] The first ever fundraising event was held at Unit 5 Gallery, London in May 2017. [7] The first pop up exhibition was held in August 2017 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The following year, it toured an exhibition around the UK called "Is Your Vagina Normal?". [8]
The Vagina Museum opened its first semi-permanent location in Camden Market with the inaugural exhibition "Muff Busters: Vagina Myths And How To Fight Them" [9] opening on 16 November 2019. [10] [11] To open the museum, a fundraising campaign was held which raised almost £50,000. [12] In 2021, the Vagina Museum closed its doors in Camden Market after the landlords refused to renew the lease in their unit. [13] [14] [15] The Vagina Museum reopened in its second location in March 2022 [16] [17] in ENTER, a venue located in Bethnal Green. [18]
The museum is dedicated to being trans-inclusive. [19]
Schechter has spoken at events and lectured around the UK about her work with the Vagina Museum, including the Royal Institution, [20] British Science Festival, [21] Conway Hall, [22] and National Student Pride. [23]
On 11 October 2022, it was announced that Penguin would be publishing Schechter's debut book V: An Empowering Celebration of the Vulva and Vagina. [24] The book was published in March 2023. The book is suitable for ages 14+.
Schechter is currently signed with United Agents. [25]
She has also written articles for a number of publications including DIVA Magazine, [26] Metro, [27] and The Huffington Post. [28]
Schechter has been performing comedy since 2016, mostly based around science and biology. [29] She performed her debut hour "Queer By Nature" at Vaults Festival in 2019, [30] all about same sex sexual behaviour in animals. [31] [32]
Schechter came highly commended in the Women of the Future Awards in 2017. [33] In 2019, she won Pioneer of the Year in the Sexual Freedom Awards. [34] In 2020, she was nominated for the Rising Star of the Year Award with DIVA Magazine. [35] In 2023, she came highly commended in the Young Entrepreneur Category at the DIVA awards. [36]
Schechter identifies as bisexual. [37]
Fisting—also known as fist fucking (FF), handballing, and brachioproctic or brachiovaginal insertion—is a sexual activity that involves inserting one or more hands into the rectum or the vagina. Fisting may be performed on oneself (self-fisting) or performed on one person by another. People who engage in fisting are often called "fisters".
Katherine Matilda Swinton is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
Carole Ann Pope is a British-born Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose provocative blend of hard-edged new wave rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian entertainers to achieve mainstream fame.
The female reproductive system is made up of the internal and external sex organs that function in the reproduction of new offspring. The human female reproductive system is immature at birth and develops to maturity at puberty to be able to produce gametes, and to carry a fetus to full term. The internal sex organs are the vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. The female reproductive tract includes the vagina, uterus, and fallopian tubes and is prone to infections. The vagina allows for sexual intercourse and childbirth, and is connected to the uterus at the cervix. The uterus or womb accommodates the embryo, which develops into the fetus. The uterus also produces secretions, which help the transit of sperm to the fallopian tubes, where sperm fertilize ova produced by the ovaries. The external sex organs are also known as the genitals and these are the organs of the vulva including the labia, clitoris, and vaginal opening.
Feminine hygiene products are personal care products used during menstruation, vaginal discharge, and other bodily functions related to the vulva and vagina. Products that are used during menstruation may also be called menstrual hygiene products, including menstrual pads, tampons, pantyliners, menstrual cups, menstrual sponges and period panties. Feminine hygiene products also include products meant to cleanse the vulva or vagina, such as douches, feminine wipes, and soap.
Fingering is sexual stimulation of the vulva or vagina by using the fingers. Vaginal fingering is legally and medically called digital penetration or digital penetration of the vagina. The term "digital" takes its significance from the English word 'digit', which refers to a finger, thumb, or toe. Fingering may also include the use of fingers to stimulate the anus.
The Iris Prize, established in 2007 by Berwyn Rowlands of The Festivals Company, is an international LGBT film prize and festival which is open to any film which is by, for, about or of interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex audiences and which must have been completed within two years of the prize deadline.
Julia Michelle Serano is an American writer, musician, spoken-word performer, transgender and bisexual activist, and biologist. She is known for her transfeminist books, such as Whipping Girl (2007), Excluded (2013), and Outspoken (2016). She is also a public speaker who has given many talks at universities and conferences. Her writing is frequently featured in queer, feminist, and popular culture magazines.
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In mammals, the vulva consists of the external female genitalia. The human vulva includes the mons pubis, labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, vulval vestibule, urinary meatus, vaginal opening, hymen, and Bartholin's and Skene's vestibular glands. The vulva includes the entrance to the vagina, which leads to the uterus, and provides a double layer of protection for this by the folds of the outer and inner labia. Pelvic floor muscles support the structures of the vulva. Other muscles of the urogenital triangle also give support.
Debby Herbenick is an American author, research scientist, sex educator, sex advice columnist, children's book author, blogger, television personality, professor, and human sexuality expert in the media. Herbenick is a professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health (IUSPH) and lead investigator of the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), which Time called "the most comprehensive survey of its kind in nearly two decades."
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to human sexuality:
Vulva activism is the promotion of a raised awareness of the appearance of female genitalia and the breaking of taboos surrounding the vulva, as carried out by feminist movements and advocacy groups. Other names for this advocacy movement are labia pride, labia liberation, vulvaversity, viva la vulva, pussy positivity and similar. It is supported by several independent feminist groups and based on diverse channels of communication such as cyberfeminism, protest marches and advocating boycotts against physicians and clinics that make use of deceptive advertising.
Megumi Igarashi, who uses the pseudonym Rokudenashiko, is a Japanese sculptor and manga artist who creates works that feature female genitalia and are often modeled after her own vulva. Rokudenashiko considers it her mission to reclaim female genitalia as part of women's bodies and demystify them in Japan's male dominated society, where she believes that they are "overly hidden" and marginalized as “taboo” and “obscene” in comparison to phallic imagery. As such, the artist has created a variety of different representations of manko, the Japanese slang for vagina or pussy, using representations of her own body as the raw material to emphasize as return to experience within art and manga. Rokudenashiko has been called an international symbol of “manko positivity.”
The vagina and vulva have been depicted from prehistory onwards. Visual art forms representing the female genitals encompass two-dimensional and three-dimensional. As long ago as 35,000 years ago, people sculpted Venus figurines that exaggerated the abdomen, hips, breasts, thighs, or vulva.
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The Vagina Museum is the world's first brick and mortar museum about the female reproductive system. The project is based in the United Kingdom, and moved into its first fixed location in Camden Market, London, in October 2019. Its first exhibition opened on 16 November 2019. It moved to its second premises in Bethnal Green on 19 March 2022 and was open to the public until Wednesday, 1 February 2023. It reopened in its next long-term home in two railway arches in Bethnal Green on 4 November 2023.
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