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emilyofthegreenwood's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
It may have taken me more than a year as I put this down and picked it back up, but this was a great book!
beejumpe's review
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book is hilarious, informative, and allows us a look into a misunderstood period of history.
pearlc's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
I'm not going to lie, this book is a bit of a slog. But it is so worth getting through. The author is, subtly, very funny and her humor adds to the overall message of the book: None of the "intrinsically female" things are actually that. The idea of what women do and are has changed radically over the centuries and has been influenced by time, place, and culture.
In order to showcase this the book takes a step by step approach of presenting an idea about women, discussing it, and showing how it was and was not accurate to the time period based on social and economic classes. It also showcases how these idea change, and even invert, over time. The author touches on everything from beauty standards to the rules around a widow remarrying within her husband's guild or outside of it. And of course it touches on sex, and the greatly changing idea of women's role in the process, as well as love and why the two things weren't always connected.
The concluding chapter brings everything together to show how modern day ideas of what is "intrinsically female" are completely different, if not opposite, of what medieval Europe thought. Gender roles change over time and this book shows that in a, somewhat dry, but also very funny manner.
In order to showcase this the book takes a step by step approach of presenting an idea about women, discussing it, and showing how it was and was not accurate to the time period based on social and economic classes. It also showcases how these idea change, and even invert, over time. The author touches on everything from beauty standards to the rules around a widow remarrying within her husband's guild or outside of it. And of course it touches on sex, and the greatly changing idea of women's role in the process, as well as love and why the two things weren't always connected.
The concluding chapter brings everything together to show how modern day ideas of what is "intrinsically female" are completely different, if not opposite, of what medieval Europe thought. Gender roles change over time and this book shows that in a, somewhat dry, but also very funny manner.
sierrah_catoe's review
5.0
Janega provides an amazing look into the hidden history of women in the Middle Ages. She provides detailed information about the everyday lives of women from societal expectations, sexual trends, types of jobs, and so much more. She emphasizes the importance of teaching and sharing this history so that it doesn't get lost in the male view of history because that is counterproductive to true gender equality.