CLASS DESCRIPTION
 
How was femininity operating in the late Middle Ages? This class dives into the complexities of femininity outside of the binary as it was operating in late medieval England and France. It explores questions of femme representation in medieval romances that are brimming with queer relationships and bodies before turning to queer femininities both sacred and sinful. Throughout this class, students will encounter maternal monks and effeminate sodomites, vulnerable saints and apocalyptic whores, as well as gender-bending tormentors and bodies feminized through frailty.
 
Through this wide-ranging exploration, this class hopes to make clear the centrality of questions of femininity to intersectional analyses (historical and contemporary). It offers examples of the ways that femininity in the medieval and modern operates systemically at the intersections of racism, colonialism, sexism, transphobia, ageism, classism, and ableism. It also opens up the possibility that the past might offer new possibilities for speculating queer alternatives. This class puts the medieval in femme hands and invites modern femmes to 'get medieval.

ABOUT OUR LECTURER
 
Baylee Woodley is a postgraduate researcher at the University College London. Their doctoral work explores the legacy of late medieval queer femininities and takes an interdisciplinary approach that detaches femininity from femaleness to centre its intersectionality, cross-temporal resonances, and methodological value. Alongside medieval femmes, Baylee is committed to accessible education, sharing (and collaboratively making) queer hirstories, and biodegradable glitter. They maintain the digital archive Queer Art History and foster their own femme fantasy through a performance-based art practice.
 
INSTAGRAM: @queerarthistory and @baylee_elizabeth_w_
WEBSITE: https://www.queerarthistory.com/ and https://www.bayleewoodley.org/

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This is a recording of a live session hosted by The Feminist Lecture Program in December 2024. The reading list for the class can be found alongside this rental.

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Happy watching!
FLP x