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cover of episode Medieval Lesbians
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K
Kate Lister
T
Tess Wingard
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Kate Lister: 我对中世纪女同性恋文化的研究充满兴趣，尽管寻找相关证据非常困难，但通过对现有资料的分析，我们可以发现一些线索，例如墓碑铭文、法律案件记录等。同时，我也很好奇中世纪的人们是如何看待女同性恋的，以及女同性恋在当时的社会中扮演着什么样的角色。 Tess Wingard: 我在研究中采用了“女同性恋式”（lesbian-like）的方法，即不局限于寻找性行为的直接证据，而是关注更广泛的亲密关系和情感表达。通过对墓碑铭文、法律案件记录以及修道院生活的研究，我们可以发现一些暗示中世纪女同性恋存在的证据。中世纪社会缺乏现代意义上的性身份认同，‘鸡奸者’（sodomite）是一个模糊的类别，而非自我认同。法律案件中，使用人工阴茎的女性更容易受到指控，这可能与性别颠覆有关。 此外，中世纪医学理论中也存在对女性性行为的描述，部分著作认识到阴蒂是女性性快感的来源，甚至认为女性可以通过阴蒂刺激达到高潮。关于男性同性恋受到的迫害比女性同性恋更为严重的原因，可能与法律更关注涉及性插入的同性恋行为有关。 在修道院中，可能存在女同性恋者聚集或互相认识的现象，这既体现在外部人士的担忧中，也体现在修女之间亲密关系的记录中。 Tess Wingard: 我目前的研究重点是14世纪英格兰教会的法律记录，希望能发现更多关于女性同性恋的案例。在已有的案例中，例如加西亚案和赫策尔多弗案，我们可以看到女同性恋者在面对法律指控时的不同反应和结局。加西亚案中，她公然承认自己的性取向，并展现出一种勇敢和无畏的态度；而赫策尔多弗案则更加复杂，她可能是一位跨性别者，其使用人工阴茎的行为可能与其性别认同有关。这些案例反映了中世纪社会对性行为和性别认同的复杂态度。 中世纪可能不存在有组织的女同性恋亚文化，但修道院可能是女同性恋者聚集或互相认识的地方。一些修女之间的信件也暗示了她们之间可能存在的深厚感情。

Deep Dive

Chapters
The episode explores the challenges of researching medieval lesbian history due to societal norms and lack of explicit records. It introduces Tess Wingard, a medieval historian, and previews the use of broader evidence beyond explicit sexual acts to understand lesbian lives in the medieval period.
  • Difficulty in finding direct evidence of lesbian culture before 1970
  • Focus on broader evidence of intimacy and closeness between women
  • Introduction of Tess Wingard and her book "Unclean Beasts"

Shownotes Transcript

How do you begin to look for examples of lesbians in the medieval period?

Even though it was deeply frowned upon by the powers that be, the clues are very much there... if you know where to look.

What examples do we have? How did the male-run church respond to fears that nuns were getting too close for their liking? And how did a 13th century court react when a dildo was presented in a case against a woman accused of sodomy?

Joining Kate today is medieval historian Tess Wingard to help us find out more. You can find out more about Tess's work here: https://tesswingard.wordpress.com/)__ __

This episode was edited and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

All music from Epidemic Sounds/All3 Media.

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