On the Cover: Speculations with Vaginal Specula

Abstract

abstract: Close analysis of an image coupled with documents and material culture draws attention to complex connections between political ideas and material realities. Zoltan Kluger's 1940 photograph of a woman manufacturing cow vaginal specula was framed by the campaign for Zionist settlement. The essay explains how relationships between people, animals, and technologies were formed and displayed in the context of settler colonialism in Palestine.