For centuries, wild and strange stories have been told about the female body. Some empowering, many absurd, these myths have not only endured but continue to shape perceptions of women today.



The Shrinking Goddess explores this legacy, gathering global tales about the female form and revealing how and why generations of men have sought to interpret, control and 'tame' women. Mineke Schipper investigates the disappearance of the original creation figure, Mother Earth, from mainstream culture, and how women's bodies have been imagined ever since: from the demon daughter of New Mexico with a toothed vagina, to the Japanese supermarkets and European festivals offering 'breast puddings' as delicacies.





Drawing on an extraordinary archive of art, literature and folklore, Schipper reclaims the female body as a place of power, creativity and possibility.



'Mineke Schipper provides a fascinating and wide-ranging compendium of fact and fiction through the ages.'



'Schipper's prose is light, fast-paced and witty, and her analysis is completely gripping.'



'A cultural and anthropological study of misogyny via global artworks, texts, myths and proverbs. Only by seeing what has been done can we undo it.'



'Mineke Schipper draws on a lifetime's study of stories and proverbs across the world to chart the ways in which ideas about women, creation and power have deployed over time. Fascinating … Schipper is on solid ground when she talks about the ancient world, equatorial Africa or China: the evidence she marshals is convincing and often remarkable.'