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meaganscott's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.25
grosemareads's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Very informative, interesting text but does move slowly even at 1.25x listening speed. I suggest 1.5x if listening on audiobook for a more quippy pace.
caitcoy's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
The Once and Future Sex is an exploration of how the medieval roles for women built on classic perceptions and in turn influenced modern views on the subject. I randomly picked this up from my library based entirely on the title and thought it was going to focus more strongly on the medieval history of women and their place in society. For most of this book, the focus is heavily on the various ways that medieval women experienced misogyny and really only in a few of the chapters did it get to what I was initially expecting from it.
In tone this book really reminds me of Emma Southon's cheeky humor but it doesn't strike the balance between snarky commentary and insightful history nearly as well. However, there is a lot of really valuable information here that disrupts some common myths that have always been pervasive and annoying. For a general audience, I think a lot will be interesting and accessible information. As someone who's read about fashion history and what folks of the time period wore and ate and how they lived, some of it felt a little obvious but it's pretty clearly written for a broader audience so I don't count that against it.
What I do count against it is how the lines being drawn to the present felt pretty tenuous in places and the aggravating repetition in some of the chapters. The section on the male perception of beauty was particularly egregious, where the same content is listed from multiple sources to the extent that I started skimming out of boredom. I honestly wasn't that interested in that particular subtopic to begin with and the repetition completely killed any lingering curiosity. This feels like another non-fiction book that really ought to have been a long article or a series of articles instead of a book.
If you're someone who isn't overly familiar with women in the medieval time period, The Once and Future Sex could be a very accessible entry into that history and help to dispel some common myths we hear frequently. I definitely got some good information out of it but wish I had gone in knowing more of what its project was because frankly the sociology interests me a lot less than the history.
In tone this book really reminds me of Emma Southon's cheeky humor but it doesn't strike the balance between snarky commentary and insightful history nearly as well. However, there is a lot of really valuable information here that disrupts some common myths that have always been pervasive and annoying. For a general audience, I think a lot will be interesting and accessible information. As someone who's read about fashion history and what folks of the time period wore and ate and how they lived, some of it felt a little obvious but it's pretty clearly written for a broader audience so I don't count that against it.
What I do count against it is how the lines being drawn to the present felt pretty tenuous in places and the aggravating repetition in some of the chapters. The section on the male perception of beauty was particularly egregious, where the same content is listed from multiple sources to the extent that I started skimming out of boredom. I honestly wasn't that interested in that particular subtopic to begin with and the repetition completely killed any lingering curiosity. This feels like another non-fiction book that really ought to have been a long article or a series of articles instead of a book.
If you're someone who isn't overly familiar with women in the medieval time period, The Once and Future Sex could be a very accessible entry into that history and help to dispel some common myths we hear frequently. I definitely got some good information out of it but wish I had gone in knowing more of what its project was because frankly the sociology interests me a lot less than the history.