Anett’s Reviews > The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women's Roles in Society > Status Update

A wife’s infidelity was strictly punished to protect property and lineage, while a husband's affairs were largely ignored. Men feared unknowingly passing estates to illegitimate heirs. Based on humoral theory, medieval society viewed women as naturally insatiable and unable to control their desires, using this to justify strict control over female bodies and inheritance.

Medieval ideal body language
Body: A prominent pear shape featuring small breasts, high waists, narrow shoulders, wide hips, and a slight potbelly (symbolizing fertility and health). 
Facial & Skin: Pale, "snow-white" skin, rosaceous cheeks, a plucked or high hairline (to emphasize a prominent forehead), and light or golden hair. 
Youth: Ideals were heavily tied to youthfulness, framing aging as a loss of value.

The chapter demonstrates how Church Fathers like Augustine, Jerome, and Tertullian overlaid medical theories with Christian doctrine. Women were perpetually tied to Eve, casting them as inherently sinful, morally weak, and dangerous.
Janega introduces figures like Hildegard von Bingen and Christine de Pizan to demonstrate that medieval women were not passive observers of these restrictive ideas.

J. explains how medical science rested on the theory of four humours. Women were considered inherently "cold and wet," making them passive, irrational, and physically incomplete compared to men, who were viewed as "warm and dry". 
Antique and medieval medical literature framed women as driven by their biological urge to reproduce. Doctors believed the uterus could physically move around the body.