By MIA FREEDMAN
It’s not every morning you find yourself chatting with someone about her vagina.
I’ll be honest, it’s not how I usually spend my Saturdays.
But the opportunity to interview the iconic Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth and internationally famous feminist was worth making an exception for. Hell, I’d be chuffed to talk to Naomi Wolf about… God, even sport! That’s how excited I was when I was contacted by the director of the Sydney Writer’s Festival to interview Naomi about her book, Vagina.
Look, I’m not squeamish. I have one. My mother has one. The vast majority of my friends have one. I’d already read the book but it was a little while ago so I immediately began studying all things Naomi.
“Have you read Naomi’s Vagina?” I asked my mum who reads every feminist book that’s ever published.
“I dipped into it,” she replied automatically and we both burst out laughing.
That’s when I discovered that it is impossible to discuss this book without accidentally venturing into Benny Hill territory. Note the headline above.
A couple of weeks before the interview I received the news that due to a back injury (more about that shortly), Naomi was unable to fly and wouldn’t be able to come to Australia for the festival. But would I be prepared to interview her via Skype?