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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

Written 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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easy to listen to

this was a great book. i loved how this book relates the past to now dispelling modern misconceptions of women in the past. it sounds like it would be dense but is is written so well that it is really easy to listen to. 100% for any woman trying to figure out how we got to now.

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