When I told people I was reading a book about what it was like to be a woman in medieval society, people thought that sounded boring or niche. But it was truly fascinating. Well-written with fun facts for days. I definitely don't think it's for everyone, but if you've been known to flip on the history channel or enjoy media set in the time period (or recently went to a ren faire like me) check it out!

Enjoyed the book, thanks! Very exciting and unusual topic - I enjoyed the analysis of misogyny across classes. Provided a thorough overview of a portion of history that the public often does not consider.

3.5 stars
Incredibly interesting.

I loved the stories of medieval times through the lens of how women were revered. I found so much of the discussion around women's bodies and sexuality interesting. There was a somewhat snarky and sarcastic narration in the book that I found entertaining. I'd absolutely read this again in a physical edition, as I feel the digital format did not do it any favours.

There were some really interesting tidbits and topics in this book, but the structure and style made it feel very disjointed. 3.5/5

"Our notions of the ideal women have changed a great deal over time, as has our concept of what exactly is wrong with women. What has remained static, unfortunately, is our desire to subjugate women-to judge them by the harshest possible standards and find them wanting. The outcome is the same-it's just that the justification for reaching it has changed."

In the 21st century, what could provide a more eye-opening and insightful read than a well researched insight into the medieval perspective of women and sexuality, learning that "Overall, the medieval concept of women's sexuality looks almost nothing like ours, except that it was considered wrong". The wandering womb, the tightrope between desirability and honourable behaviour and the general lack of understanding of the hidden away reproductive system - it's the same story, a different generation.

I have to commend Janega for delivering a non-fictional, historical breakdwon that reads so smoothly. She successfully packaged a whole time period where the narrative isn't exceptionally new to the reader, yet is just slightly different enough that I needed to know more - whether it was the reliance placed on well-respected public thinkers on understanding topics as complex as the female reproductive system. I found myself laughing, wanting to cry and on the occasion, having to put down the book and just take a minute, for reasons ranging from the need to reflect on how far science and society has come, to feeling intense pity for those subjected to a society that didn't understand or respect them.

Bravo.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc.

I've never read anything about the Middle Ages, and this was an excellent place to start. I learnt a lot without feeling overwhelmed with information, and I really appreciated how Janega links everything back to the present.

I appreciate the enormous work of Eleanor Janega that helps people understand the Middle Ages, especially from the perspective of sex and gender. In "The Once and Future Sex" the author explains the realities of women's experiences when it comes to sexuality, but also goes one step further, theorising how nowadays we can use the history to improve the now.

This will be a great and enjoyable read for all the sex geeks and those who enjoy the intersection of history, sex and gender.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. I recommend this book to anyone interested in feminism or medieval history. This is an interesting book where we look at Medieval history and how it impacts the ideas of women today. It is well written and I learned a lot.

Description: "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 vibrant, 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."

I'm not ashamed to admit that my actual knowledge of Medieval women was not very robust before reading this book. I think a lot of us think we know more about Medieval times than we actually do because of a lot of assumptions, myths, and fictional (often fantastical) media portrayals that get conflated with fact. Janega does an excellent job of giving a thorough crash course in the lives of Medieval women and their roles in society. This book is quite dense and was sometimes a slough to get through, but it was clear Janega attempted to intersperse some humor to lighten things up, which was appreciated. Personally, the last section of the book was the most intriguing (though, for it to be so, the information provided in the prior four parts was necessary). Comparing and contrasting the roles of Medieval women with women in modern society was enlightening in ways that I hadn't anticipated.

An interesting read about the roles, jobs and lives women led during medieval times. Lots of information, but it didn’t feel dense or heavy at all. A must read for any feminist and lover of history

4 stars

A lively and much-needed corrective to the idea that the story of women has been straight line of progress from an overwhelmingly oppressive past to a (more) liberated present. Considering how the rights of women can change dramatically within a lifetime, and especially with the growing trends of misogyny and reduced reproductive rights it is vital to understand that progress pendulums constantly and means different things to different people. While some medieval attitudes towards women i.e., that they are a less perfect form of man have depressing echoes in todays society. Janega gives us a lively, witty and insightful narrative from the ancient Greeks and their beliefs on the humoural properties of men vs women through beauty standards of the medieval period (small breasts and a protruding stomach were preferred) and the world of work. She finds evidence of attitudes in sermons, mystery plays, and songs showing clear and lasting stereotypes but also debunking the idea that the medieval period was consistently more “backward” in its attitudes to women that the modern day.

This was such a fun book to read! It’s always interesting to read new takes on medieval sexuality and this one had a lot of great information

This historical study addresses not just the roles but general 'cultural understandings' about women and their sexuality. As the author put it on twitter, "we change what is socially good all the time, but what stays static is that women are not socially good." It's interesting to read all these ancient beliefs and recognize which extremely outdated ideals are still completely embedded in how we view people even if the reason behind it has changed. (Like, nobody is talking about wet/dry natures anymore, but the things wet/dry natures were believed to "cause" are still nearly superstitiously believed.)

The book's strongest (and most frequent) feature is its desire to follow through history specific details -- like tracing back through all the earliest writers of how the epitome of feminine beauty was defined, and how later authors (trying to mimic the classics as they did in all other areas) developed on that and built associated tropes like roses and honey around romance and beauty.

I particularly enjoyed the parts about how it was believed that a woman who wore makeup or was too interested in fashion might go to hell as these were mortal sins and, worse, one who plucked her body hair might cause the apocalypse.

My one quibble with it (if you can call it that) is that it seems to vacillate between assuming an academic audience and a casual one, so we get both phrases like "Lest you think that Augustine was alone in his repugnance for women as a result of Eve's theoretical actions, you need look only as far as Tertullian for yet more aspersions." but also "it stands to reason that medieval women had it worse, lacking the benefits of the Pill, the Equal Rights Act, and Dolly Parton's Nine to Five." I do enjoy a quick change in register for humour or drama, of course, but this back-and-forth also extends to the assumed default knowledge -- so we can have a multi-page explanation that the Greeks thought that the uterus wandered around in a body and caused havoc, but simultaneously explain that the Immaculate Conception was actually Mary's and was often confused for Jesus's, without any discussion or further explanation into this (even though it was acknowledged as a point of known confusion). So I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, but it means that some things might be obscure to the casual reader, or dwelled on for too long for a more studied academic. It's just something to watch out for more than anything.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This book analyzes how women were viewed in the medieval era. The author gives a thorough analysis of medieval sources. They cover both lower and upper-class women.
This is a good book for those who like history, specifically how women are presented.

I like that author analyzed misogyny and its affects on all classes rather than just the focus on the rich that we often see if historical texts

Fabulous non-fiction book about misconceptions and realities of medieval women (and since). Once again, history was written (poorly) by men and now we women must come and clean it all up.

Actual Rating 3.5 stars

A full review will be posted on January 10th on Instagram and Goodreads @abookwormsgarden

The genre of witty history books is increasingly expanding, a phenomenon I first noticed with the work of Emma Southon. This book found the right balance between historical analysis and sarcastic remarks, something not all of the books in this category have managed. Maybe this was because of the topic - niche enough to have a lot of interesting stuff to say, but broad enough and containing enough misconceptions to warrant some modern commentary.

This book makes medieval women - specifically the brand of working-class women we don't hear a lot about - incredibly accessible to a general audience. Even though the main purpose of this book is to emphasize that history and progress are not linear, there are enough moments of similarity to give the contemporary reader a point of access. I would read an entire book on medieval skincare products. But maybe I am in the minority as an absolutely huge nerd.

Janega's tone is casual without losing the necessary aura of expertise. It feels as though we are two people discussing the appeal of pear-shaped bodies in medieval art over a cup of coffee.

The once and future Sex is a great resource for any student of gender studies or history. I liked the easiness of reading this, with lots of facts and references.

I have nothing but the upmost praise for this book. What a wonderful exploration of women's history and gender roles. I found this book to be informative, empowering, entertaining, accessible, devastating, and relatable. I will be recommending this book to everyone (especially women) for a long time to come. I really think Janega has some incredible insights that society needs to hear about women's history. Not only would I recommend this book as a required reading for a European Women's history class, but also just as a book that everyone should pick up and read with an open mind and heart. This is not just a book for feminists. This is a book for society. Janega addresses many very dark and complex issues in women's history, but her conversational and intentional tone lends itself towards accessibility. An absolute five star read.