The Perfect Servant: Eunuchs and the Social Construction of Gender in Byzantium
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.34 (760 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0226720152 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 312 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-07-26 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Lacking" according to Chris. A paucity of citations limit this book's use for research purposes. Some glaring errors make one wonder whether the information that lacks citations is true or just a creation of Ringrose. Tougher's book on eunuchs in Byzantium is better supported, with respect to citations, and lacks such errors, at least as far as I could tell. However, I do agree with Ringrose's main point that eunuchs constituted a third gender, an argument that Tougher tries to argue against. I simply wish that. Very good and scholarly treatment R. Sears This was a very treatment and discussion of a lesser known subject. The author has obviously done her reading, pulling in writings from many sources.The only negative I have is that it could have used a bit more editing. It many places, it read like an academic dissertation which was being padded to increase the length.
She has two objectives: the first is to examine whether eunuchs were regarded as a distinct gender within Byzantine society; the second is to explore how the roles played by eunuchs in society changed between the 7th and 12th centuries. It is a book that anyone interested in gender roles and in Byzantine society needs to pay attention to.”. Ringrose examines eunuchs within a Byzantine context, the first full-length study to do so. “Ringrose’s book is a thoughtful, stimulating and non-sensationalist addition to the field
They were distinctive in physical appearance, dress, and manner and were considered uniquely suited for important roles in Byzantine life. This allowed them to perform tasks from which prominent men and women were constrained, making them, in essence, perfect servants.Written with precision and meticulously researched, The Perfect Servant will immediately take its place as a major study on Byzantium and the history of gender.. Kathryn Ringrose uses the modern concept of gender as a social construct to identify eunuchs as a distinct gender and to illustrate how gender was defined in the Byzantine world. At the same time she explores the changing role of the eunuch in Byzantium