Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Hildegard of Bingen sex talk


                                   Women power!
          I agree with Taylor, I liked Hildegard of Bingen. She was an interesting women to read about because in her time period it was not common for women to be listened to or even do half the stuff she did. She wrote multiple books and she also wrote music. But Hildegard could have done more; Catherine of Siena spread the word about God while she travels. Catherine stood up to groups and told them her opinion. She told soldiers they needed to fight for God and not give up (Cathrine, P. 7). Catherine traveled to present her opinion, unlike Hildegard where she just wrote everything down. 

            Unlike a majority of my classmates, I was not surprised that Hildegard wrote about sex in her book. The book covered medical information. Hildegard identified how to make a strong child and the steps in between. Those steps are vital pieces of information that could not be left out. Hildegard provided a theory that filled in blanks; her sex talk gave an outlet for couples that made weak or bad traits to blame (Hildegard, P. 3). Her sex book was more than an outlet though, this book contained the functions of the women body parts (Hildegard, P. 3). Educated people could read her literature and learn. People could finally understand what an organism is and put a name to the process (3). And yes, I did say organism. 
                                         
http://www.sighchai.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/woman_power.jpg

         I think both Hildegard and Catherine had balls. Hildegard claimed she was receiving visions from God. Catherine called for the church to be reformed because in her view the church was troubled (Catherine, P. 47). Hildegard wrote about her visions of the devil, which could have got her killed (Hildegard, P. 7-8). Catherine also wrote as if she was God, which was someone no one did during that time period. Hildegard and Catherine seemed fearless. These women support the statement, you can do anything if you put your mind to it. 


         One last comment before I go, I want to know why God picked her. What was so special about Hildegard that God decided to choice her? In a time period where men were the only allowed to be educated and when females were limited with jobs, God picked her. With this said, did her fellow colleagues believe her? The Pope must have believed she was receiving visions from God (Hildegard, P. 2). Hopefully I will not anger any spirits, but I defiantly would have questioned her motives behind revealing her power to receive visions from God. Even if she was christian and was involved with the church, she could still be a witch. There were plenty of pages in Kors and Peters that mentioned Christians turning to the dark side. It is hard to believe no one accused her of being a witch or sorcerer. I would say the same about Catherine but it seemed someone questioned if she was evil because she was almost assassinated (Catherine, P. 6).


                       
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7 comments:

  1. I think God picked Hildegard because of her position in society and her family's position. No one would really questioned her because she was higher up in society than most people. With that, I do not understand how her colleagues understood what she was saying given what has happened in the past with people who have claimed the same things.

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  2. I think it is a bit harsh to compare the amount of work done by Hildegard to Catherine. Hildegard was alive centuries before Catherine and was stated to be the "first in many fields" for a woman. She was a piece of the foundation that let Catherine have as much liberty as she had.

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  3. Leave it to Tonie to make another great afternoon special. But I definitely agree with Ariel, I think it is definitely a bit extreme to compared Hildegard to Catherine in any way, shape, or form. But I can certainly see where you are coming from giving Hildegard's position in her society.

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    1. I don't know if it's appropriate to "lol" on a class blog that I want a good grade on... but lolololol. The after school specials just don't stop. And I'm okay with that.

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    2. This is an appropriate place to LOL, IMHO. ;-)

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  4. I was also not really surprised that Hildegard mentioned sex in her medical writings. As you said, if she left out sex and reproduction in a series of writings about human health, that would be a flipping gigantic missing chapter.
    Also, she was writing in the 12th century. Most of the people were not literate, and fewer still had the means to write and reproduce their writings. The clergy were one of the few groups that could read, write, and could spend the effort involved in coping texts. So if one was going to have a medical treatise that mentioned sex at all, at some point a cleric was probably going to be involved.

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  5. yes, you did say "organism." did you mean to say "orgasm"? or should we be shocked by organisms?? ;-)

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