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The Once and Future Sex

Going Medieval on Women's Roles in Society

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The Once and Future Sex

By: Eleanor Janega
Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
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About this listen

A vibrant and illuminating exploration of medieval thinking on women's beauty, sexuality, and behavior.

What makes for the ideal woman? How should she look, love, and be? In this high-spirited history, medievalist Eleanor Janega turns to the Middle Ages, the era that bridged the ancient world and modern society, to unfurl its suppositions about women and reveal what's shifted over time—and what hasn't.

Enshrined medieval thinkers, almost always male, subscribed to a blend of classical Greek and Roman philosophy and Christian theology for their concepts of the sexes. For the height of female attractiveness, they chose the mythical Helen of Troy, whose imagined pear shape, small breasts, and golden hair served as beauty's epitome. Casting Eve's shadow over medieval women, they derided them as oversexed sinners, inherently lustful, insatiable, and weak. And, unless a nun, a woman was to be the embodiment of perfect motherhood.

In The Once and Future Sex, Janega unravels the restricting expectations on medieval women and the ones on women today. She boldly questions why, if our ideas of women have changed drastically over time, we cannot reimagine them now to create a more equitable future.

©2023 Eleanor Janega (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Gender Studies Medieval Women Ancient History

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I strongly recommend reading this book!

Both interesting to read and academically rigorous. Very informative about the roles and treatment of women in medieval european history and how that relates to the modern world. Particularly refreshing history that doesn't let the modern treatment of women off the hook; rather, the history of women is complicated and there is much our society could do better.

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