Chapter 7 and 8 Summary

Chapter 7 - At Himiko's house, Himiko responds with a degree of impatience to Bird's suggestion that they have sex (see "Quotes", p 80), but agrees. As she prepares herself, she reveals that "there's a danger of pregnancy", which immediately douses Bird's feelings of desire. She also tells him he must define and isolate his feelings of fear in order to conquer them. After some consideration, Bird confesses that he sees the vagina and womb as "a battlefield", an opening to one of Himiko's pluralistic universes (see "Quotes", p. 84). Himiko proposes that he attempt to get over his distaste for the female body by "approach[ing] from behind" ... in other words, anal intercourse. Bird feels concerned that she will be humiliated (she says she won't), and whether there will be any pleasure for her (she says at this point she's only interested in...