Women Like Sex | Ep. 3: When Women Loved Sex

A medieval pilgrimage badge of a vulva being carried by three phalluses

It is a delight to speak with Dr. Eleanor Janega whose favorite pastimes include “gossiping about dead people’s sex lives.” The medieval historian does so with wit, wisdom and a deep knowledge of sex and gender roles in the Middle Ages, some of which were very different from ours today. Indeed, throughout all but recent recorded history in the Global North, women were “known” to be hypersexual, while men were considered…chaste. Eleanor explains how and why in this episode, while also dismantling other gendered myths we still believe, based on “science” (heavy air quotes) from 1,000+ years ago. Because not only does she study the ways that society has been influenced by the past but, in particular, how we tell stories about history that aren’t actually true to justify our own desires.

Along with sexuality, Eleanor Janega’s other areas of expertise include propaganda, apocalypticism, urbanity, and empire in the late medieval and early modern periods.

I urge everyone to read her book The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society. She is also author of The Middle Ages: A Graphic History.

Instagram - Gone Medieval podcast - We’re Not So Different podcast

A full transcript of our conversation is available here.

Women like Sex is a Flipped Script production
Executive Producer / Editor: Natasha Senjanovic 
Website Design and Artwork: Ted Nunes
Associate Producer: Edecio Martinez