female sexuality

This part of the course really interested me. I loved the presentation on the female anatomy and what doctors were thinking [mostly speculation] back then. [http://www.stanford.edu/class/history13/femalebody.html] Even though it is humorous to us to hear that physicians thought the vagina had teeth and that it needed to be "fed", that the female genitals looked exactly like an inverted penis and testicles, and that women were of a wet and cold nature, it is still important to realize that we still don't have all the answers and we're still learning--we were simply at the beginning at that time.

To continue what I was saying in my blog on infanticide and domestic tragedies, strong women were feared and known as dangerous. It was believed that beautiful women were especially corrupt. I think this is still echoed today, sadly enough. Beautiful women, for some reason, are considered automatic enemies for some women. They are seen as a threat--what with our protective and cautious natures. Just look at Cleopatra in "Antony and Cleopatra". She is loathed by men in Rome, not just because she is gorgeous and exotic, but because she has staggering power. Women with looks and smarts are considered dangerous in how in society it is believed that if they can't rely on one, they can fall back on the other. In many relationships, just as in the Renaissance, a woman's sexuality is considered the property of her spouse or partner. Some mouthy or strong willed women in Early Modern England were even put in muzzles, complete with a spike to insert under the tongue.

I think the saddest part of all, however, was the lack of education of the sex lives of women. I even found in my partner research project on same sex relationships that most didn't even consider lesbianism a possibility--why would a woman want another woman when they have us? This can also be seen in some comedy acts of today, some men persisting and trying to woo the lesbian woman until she finally cannot stand it anymore. It is funny, but can definitely be traced back to Renaissance times.