In every era, the subjects tackled in academic debate are neither random nor comprehensive. They follow the interests and anxieties of the times. So it's not surprising to find that medieval writers applied their analytic and debating skills to a slightly different set of questions that the classical authors whose work they leaned on. One of the aspects that Cadden emphasizes (and that Laqueur downplayed) was the diverse and contradictory nature of medieval arguments and conclusions around sex.
LHMP
Blog entry
Cadden takes a deep dive into the details of some sample texts that illustrate the range of thought on the topic of sex differences--as well as illustrating their internal incoherence at times.
I’ll confess that I had higher hopes of relevance to my purposes for this collection. Overall, the articles included here were more narrowly theory-oriented and of less general interest than I hoped. Also, the queer content was overwhelmingly male focused. I’d originally planned to do each article as a separate entry, but found myself skimming through many of them. In the end, it made much more sense to cover this publication as a single blog.
Although I’m generally organizing this “classics of the history of gender and sexuality” series on a thematic basis, I moved this one out of order for logistical reasons (It’s the only one I have in pdf and I wanted get it done before I moved the other current 40+ article pdfs onto my iPad, so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.)
In this chapter, Cadden surveys the classical medical and philosophical writers who tackled the questions of the meanings of sex difference and the relationship of male and female (as well as mascuine and feminine). Different schools of thought are examined via a selection of key writers, discussing their basic principles and influences.
This turned out to be a good choice to follow directly after Laqueur, as they cover much the same ground but from different angles. (Although I've tried to plan out the order of the publications I'm covering in this "basic theory" group so that I'm following thematic threads, I don't always know how that will play out until I start reading.)
Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 125 (previously 38d) - How to Be a Feminist in History - transcript
(Originally aired 2019/09/28 - listen here)
I needed a breather from recording and editing new episodes this month, so I’m reprising a series of episodes on poetry about love between women. If you’ve been a podcast listener from the very beginning, I hope you enjoy them just as much as you did the first time. And if this is the first time you’ve heard these episodes, you have a real treat coming!
This is a reprise of Episode 3 - The Goblin Market, which originally aired on 2016/10/29.
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Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 39d - The Goblin Market (Reprise) - transcript
I needed a breather from recording and editing new episodes this month, so I’m reprising a series of episodes on poetry about love between women. If you’ve been a podcast listener from the very beginning, I hope you enjoy them just as much as you did the first time. And if this is the first time you’ve heard these episodes, you have a real treat coming!
This is a reprise of Episode 25d - Poetry about Love Between Women from the 16th and 17th Centuries, which originally aired on 2018/08/26.
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I needed a breather from recording and editing new episodes this month, so I’m reprising a series of episodes on poetry about love between women. If you’ve been a podcast listener from the very beginning, I hope you enjoy them just as much as you did the first time. And if this is the first time you’ve heard these episodes, you have a real treat coming!
This is a reprise of Episode 8 - Medieval Love Poetry which originally aired on 2017/03/25.
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Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 127 - Medieval Love Poetry (Reprise) - transcript
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