Hildegard and Sex Complementarity

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a close look at Sister Prudence Allen's article on Hildegard of Bingen, entitled "Hildegard of Bingen" (1985). The paper maintains that the article's main point is that Hildegard was the very first person to articulate the theory of the complementarity of the sexes. The article claims that this complementarity theory was original to Hildegard; thus Hildegard made a significant contribution to the history of the concept of woman in relation to man. The paper agrees with the article, concluding that Hildegard did indeed succeed in vindicating the equality of woman with man by presenting a cogent, comprehensive and multifaceted argument for the complementarity of man and woman.

From the Paper:

"However, the important point is that Hildegard balanced this notion with a defence of the quality of woman and man, based on a metaphysical framework of sex complementarity in heaven and in the world. For example, in procreation, while man deposits the cold seed, it is woman's warmth that must grow the seed. Similarly, in heaven male saints are equal to but different from female saints; while on earth woman and man have equal access to both the private and public spheres of activity (Allen, 1985)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Allen, Sister Prudence. (1985). Hildegard of Bingen. The Concept of Woman: 292+.
• Baird, J. L. and Ehrman, R. K., Trans. (2004). The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen. Vol. 3. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Brunn, E. Z., & Epiney-Burgard, G. (1989). Women Mystics in Medieval Europe (Hughes, S., Trans.) (1st ed.). St. Paul, MN: Paragon House.
• Cunningham, L. S. (1999, June 4). Religion booknotes. Commonweal, 126(26).
• Evans, G. R. (2002). Fifty Key Medieval Thinkers. London: Routledge.

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