What Can Your Womb Do For You?

September 1, 2009 6:28 PM

What bleeds [Flash], grows babies [possibly NSFW], and "functions so efficiently that a full understanding of its processes may lead to novel treatments for a plethora of medical disorders?" The Uterus! Jacqueline Maybin, a PhD student at the Centre For Reproductive Biology at Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, discusses her research into "the secrets of the womb" and its incredible ability to heal and repair in her essay, "The Best A Man Can't Get."
posted by radiomayonnaise (26 comments total)

I'm not clicking on that first link, sorry...
posted by Huck500 at 6:33 PM on September 1

Huck: It's an anatomical cartoon, pretty tame stuff.
posted by Saxon Kane at 6:35 PM on September 1

The answer is that the endometrium is sophisticated, complicated and not fully understood – that is, typically female!

Oh, those crazy female types. What will they think of next?
Her research sounds fascinating. This essay is pretty pathetic.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 6:39 PM on September 1 [5 favorites]

The uterus recall : your uterus may be a pulling or choking hazard.
posted by boo_radley at 6:44 PM on September 1 [1 favorite]

hysterical.
posted by qvantamon at 6:47 PM on September 1 [22 favorites]

In conclusion, uteruses are a land of contrasts.
posted by electroboy at 6:51 PM on September 1 [6 favorites]

All very well, but there's no way my uterus is going to be able to read all that.
posted by subbes at 6:52 PM on September 1 [2 favorites]

Uterrific!

The uterus, that is, not that foolish essay loaded with essentialist "humor".
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:03 PM on September 1

That said, I'm sure her research is actually really important, and kudos to her for winning money by turning it into the inane babble that passes for science writing in most newspapers today.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:11 PM on September 1 [1 favorite]

Gentlemen, we cannot afford to have a uterus gap!
posted by nonspecialist at 7:14 PM on September 1 [2 favorites]

I can't wait for the companion piece, "Your Prostate: Walnut of Joy and Sorrow."
posted by adipocere at 7:14 PM on September 1 [31 favorites]

Nthing that the essay sucks, but the research sounds absolutely fascinating.

I can't wait for the companion piece, "Your Prostate: Walnut of Joy and Sorrow."

This made me LOL.
posted by Lutoslawski at 7:20 PM on September 1

I Am Jo's Uterus.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:47 PM on September 1

Gentlemen, we cannot afford to have a uterus gap!

I believe I can help fill that gap.

Thank you, try the veal.
posted by rodgerd at 7:55 PM on September 1 [1 favorite]

Someone needs to tell the compiler of the second link's gallery that illustrations are not photos.
posted by juniper at 8:06 PM on September 1

You know what bugs me? Perhaps you have spent time, in fact, fretting on this question. I am here to put your mind at rest: what bugs me, nay, drives me to distraction, is that convention of depicting, in anatomical drawings of the female reproductive system, the vagina as an empty, distended tube. Please! The vagina is only a potential space! The vaginal walls are, most of the time, closed. Together. The vagina is not an empty, open organ, and women don't walk around with a permanent vacancy in our bodies! Thank you.
posted by jokeefe at 8:57 PM on September 1 [11 favorites]

The answer is that the endometrium is sophisticated, complicated and not fully understood – that is, typically female!

My favorite organ is a special snowflake + played-out gender stereotypes? This is the sort of thing that wins science writing prizes, huh?
posted by drpynchon at 9:25 PM on September 1

Star Gentle Uterus!
posted by SPrintF at 9:52 PM on September 1

omg...i TOTALLY guessed uterus.
posted by sexyrobot at 11:52 PM on September 1

Mine's broken :(
posted by The Light Fantastic at 1:33 AM on September 2

So, if an egg falls into an empty uterus, does it make a sound?
posted by paulsc at 2:53 AM on September 2

So, if an egg falls into an empty uterus, does it make a sound?

Ha! I see through your trick question. As soon as the egg enters, the uterus is no longer empty.
posted by vanar sena at 4:17 AM on September 2

The uterus recall : your uterus may be a pulling or choking hazard.

From the recall: KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN

I have a whole lot of female friends that feel the same way as the CPSC.
posted by Pollomacho at 4:18 AM on September 2

Why do we say uterus and not womb? I like the word womb. Kinda sounds like warm roomy home blurred into one. Uterus sounds more like a trendy restaurant or a Vandalic king of the 6th century. Though Vandal kings are alright in a way. My essay about wombs would definitely include more Vandal kings, and fewer English queens. Definitely.
posted by Sova at 5:11 AM on September 2 [1 favorite]

W-O-M-B?

I don't believe that little snip of a girl has ever heard an elephant fart.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:09 AM on September 2

The uterus is pretty neat in general, but someone needs to alert the author of that essay to, uh, the existence of trans men and women. "The Best A Man Can't Get"? Seriously? Since when do all uteri belong to women, and, for that matter, since when to all women have uteri?

Incidentally, how hilarious a word is "uteri"? Awesome.
posted by ellehumour at 8:09 AM on September 2