Critical Analysis

by E. Rettberg

Design Features

typographic: The dialogue's two speakers each have a separate typographic style: the gynecologist, italicized text, and the woman, small-caps text.

imagery: The book is filled with images, per the afterword, of "ancient visual representations of women by men."

graphical: Each verso of the book block features an image of a body; the recto, various images of fragmented anatomy that constitute a frame for the text.

development: As the book goes on, the images shift from inaccurate representations of female anatomy to gynecological instruments such as forceps.

Critical Discussion

The book's narrative, in which a gynecologist urges a female patient to pursue a hysterectomy, subtly suggests that the male gynecologist has subconscious ulterior motives. The afterword, presented in a direct, non-fictive authorial voice, explains the American Medical Association's usurpation of the historical profession of midwifery. The afterword confirms the book's stance as an attack on the state of the "still largely patriarchal practice of gynecology."

General Comments

[]

The Gynecologist

Agents

Joan Lyons

type: initiating

role:
artist
designer
author

nationality:
active: United States

Visual Studies Workshop Press

type: other

role:
publisher

location: Rochester, NY

Publication Information

edition type: editioned

publisher: Visual Studies Workshop Press

place: Rochester, NY

dates:
publication: 1989-11-00

edition size: unknown

Measurements

horizontal: 6 inches closed

vertical: 8.5 inches closed

Production Information

production means:
offset (local)

binding: saddle stitching (AAT) two staples

substrate:
bookBlock: paper
endsheets: paper

media:
ink (local)

Appearance

general description: Two different shades of beige dominate the book's design, and found illustrations and text fill each page.

format: codex (AAT)

cover: The cover's simple design features a full-justified title, the artists' name, and a vaguely ambiguous woodcut image.

color: yes just beige and black

devices: none

Content

pagination: paginated 29 numbered pages

numbered?: numbered

signed?: unsigned