Bodies of Medieval Women as Dangerous, Liminal, and Holy: Medical and Religious Representations of Female Bodies in Hildegard of Bingen's Causae et curae and Scivias
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In my dissertation, I aim to discover how women’s reproductive bodies were represented in medieval medical and religious writings not only in men’s but also women’s views. Especially, I use Hildegard of Bingen’s works in order to emphasize the positive and even salvational roles embedded in women’s sexual bodies in medieval Christianity. I argue that Hildegard presented the professional and elaborated views toward women both in medical and religious writings. Despite being the weaker sex, Hildegard was educated enough to bring her unique views of the world, human beings, and women. In her Causae et curae, she emphasized the positive depiction of menstruation as proper purgation and women’s big contribution to pregnancy and childbirth. In the Scivias, Hildegard represented Ecclesia as having childbirth to the souls in her vision, which signifies her positive evaluation of women’s sexual bodies and reproductive procedures. This thesis is important since it shows how women used the cultural depictions of women and developed the symbols and representations of women so that they achieved more profound authority with their gender. It is a part of women’s history that women did not necessarily deny their gender but promoted their femaleness in theory and life.
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Lee, Minji. "Bodies of Medieval Women as Dangerous, Liminal, and Holy: Medical and Religious Representations of Female Bodies in Hildegard of Bingen's Causae et curae and Scivias." (2018) Diss., Rice University. https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105575.