Thread by @Maravillandome

Today we are talking about a couple of things, first of all the #uterus or #womb in Spanish #útero or #matriz an inverted pear-shaped muscular organ of the female reproductive system, located between the bladder and the rectum. The uterus grows during puberty and shrinks after

menopause. But as a rule of thumb we say that your uterus is the size of your fist. In Spanish the synonym “matriz” in English now archaic (for this particular) “Matrix” comes from the Latin for Mater-Mother Matrix -Breeding female and in late Middle English Matrix-Uterus And now

the word “womb” in English comes from the proto-Germanic wambō for stomach or belly. In the uterus we find the #cervix in Spanish “cérvix” o “cuello uterino”= uterine neck.And that’s why you will find the word cervical referring to the vertebrae on your neck. Spanish: cervicales

Another interesting word in the uterus is the shortest one “os” the os is understood in both Spanish and English as the opening of the cervix. It comes from ostium, for Spanish speakers the association will be very clear with this

That waffle like disc catholics take in church representing the body of Christ is called an “hostia” in Spanish, same word in slang to refer to give an slap or to express something along the lines of

But why is it in the uterus then? And what does it have to do with the old harbour in the Tiber, Rome.
It means “mouth” (of a river for example) or “opening” and it is related to a word I like “ósculo” which means “beso” in Spanish in English “kiss”

I can’t talk about our uterus without mentioning “histeria”. Both English and Spanish still use as a common frase “being hysterical” in Spa. “Estar histérica” with the male option too histérico. But it is a very sexist word with an ancient origin. We can trace it back to

In Greek hister meant uterus. And yes that is why we have the word “hysterectomy” (histerectomia) for the surgery that removes the uterus in various pathological conditions and emergencies. So the Greeks believed that we women have an animal inside, the uterus to blame for all

sorts of issues, this ideas went on and on and on and on… we now believe that one of the solutions that became popular for this traumatised, unsatisfied, oppressed women diagnosed as hysterical was masturbation

there are many discrepancies as to whether this was actually the case in puritanical Victorian times, here is an article that disputes that extended idea theatlantic.com/health/archive…

But in any case the fact that we were thought to be hysterical for being women and having a uterus remains. The fact that our emotions are still used to silence us remains. But as this placard says: “We are not hysterical, we are historical”

@UnrollThread