ESSAY interview by OLIVIER ZAHM artwork by MARLENE DUMAS in her latest book, the french philosopher describes the clitoris as a pleasure island that has been systematically obliterated by patriarchal societies, not only on women’s bodies, in sexuality, but also in psychoanalysis and philosophy. the recognition of the clitoris is nigh, and it is changing the game. OLIVIER ZAHM — Etymologically, you say “clitoris” means “little pebble,” but one could also see it as an island, like a small protruding part of an internal organ recently discovered by science. Like a little island in the middle of the ocean of the female body, or the female continent. CATHERINE MALABOU — Yes. That’s what my book [Le Plaisir Effacé: Clitoris et Pensée, Pleasure Erased: Clitoris and Thought] is about: making the clitoris fully visible on every level, including on a philosophical level. In the word “isle,” there is “isolat”: isolation. If…