Sex with the Queen by Elizabeth Herman

[msmcknittington]

This is, quite possibly, the worst non-fiction book I have ever read. A comment on a previous post in the comm reminded me of it, and I thought I should share. Forewarning, like a literary lighthouse

Comments

[tabular_rasa]

In defense of the first quote you post, I think what she is trying to say is that the practice of keeping women confined to the domestic sphere was rooted in practical necessity related to bloodline purity as opposed to just pure abstract hatred of women. (Which I think is probably true?). In the absence of paternity tests the only way husbands felt assured of their wife's faithfulness was to prevent any other guys from getting close enough to even stand a chance. It's poor word choice because "not rooted in misogyny" makes it sound like she's saying "it's not misogynistic," but I think her point is that the reason the (misogynist) practice came to exist was based on the biological fact that women get pregnant and men don't-- as opposed to one day somebody waking up and thinking, "You know what? I hate women. Let's treat them like crap."

But the rest of this just sounds like she is trying a little too hard to make history *sexy!* at the expense of some academic integrity (and dignity). If she really does *know* some of the stuff she claims, you'd think she'd quote it from a direct source, or least throw us a nice "Further Reading" footnote or something. The sex lives of historical figures are fascinating, but if you're going to speculate and play fast and lose with your citations you might as well just write a historical bodice-ripper.

[subluxate]

But it's still rooted in misogyny--it's basically the idea that women can't control their sexuality, so men must do it for them.

[lied_ohne_worte]

Exactly. Most misogynist attitudes aren't consciously so, and people holding them will tell you at great lengths that they "have nothing against women", and then proceed to make statements that are misogynistic, often without even realising it.

[msmcknittington]

Except misogyny isn't just "pure abstract hatred of women". It's thinking women are less than men simply because they're women. And I really don't think that all men in the past were motivated to treat women badly just because they were women, but actively anticipating that your wife will cuckold you is absolutely rooted in misogyny. Downplaying the role that misogyny plays in the fretwork of laws that governed queen consorts' actions in the past is disingenuous.