Thompson, Lana.

The body in anthropo logy represents more than a phys ical endpoint of human evolution. It is both
the template for cultural imprint, and a symbol that communicates cultural information. ln the context of
the Renaissance as an ethnographic e ntity, th e status of women is examined through two kinds of images:
anatomic and fine art.
Although the Renaissance is generally heralded as a boundary between medieval superstition and
humanism, with its improvement in the quality of life, few scholars have examined if that change applied
to women. Using Kelly-Gadol's thesis that women did not have a renaissance in the Renaissance, this
thesis wiII show their restricted status through the lens of anthropology of the body. Witch persecutions,
sumptuary laws and curious metal appurtenances to restrict the body support this view.
Kuhn's paradigm theory and Turner's work on IIminality are relevant with regard to unequal
male-female status. When normal science is presented with new information that is anomalous, a period of
denial ensues. Thus, the domain of authority was challenged by observation and created conflict along
with discovery. The most drastic of these raged between female sexuality versus reproduction.

thesis is written with the intent to connect work I have created since writing The Wandering Womb: a cultural history of outrageous beliefs about women. It began as a collage of stories, poetry, images and memories. I intended to funnel this accumulation of mental maps, unusual vistas and events, poetic moments of inertia, into an alembic that would yield a unique residue, but it boiled over and only words remain. The starting point of these experiences took me to back rooms of museums, morgues, surgical suites and special collections libraries throughout the world to explore the stuff of curiosity. Martin Buber (1878-1965) allegedly, but not verifiably, is quoted as writing, "All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." Cats in cemeteries, sixteenth century anatomy books, babies in bottles, two headed calves, and chapels constructed from bones are but a few of the marvelous destinations I have discovered.