The Gendering of the Ear in Early Modern England (new study)

“While critics discuss the link between female speech and sexual looseness, and silence and chastity, many have overlooked the prerequisite for obedience – hearing and its agent, the ear. The link between the ear and vagina is often ignored because of the proneness to perceive ears as passive orifices (Kilgour 131; Woodbridge 256). However, ears are vulnerable holes subject to penetration by external tongues.”

– explains Bilal Hamamra who is professor of English Literature at the Department of English Language and Literature, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine, in a shortly to be published note for the scholarly journal ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews.

See: ‘The Gendering of the Ear in Early Modern England‘ in ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, ahead-of-print, pp. 1–2 (available to purchase at £30 from the Taylor & Francis Group).

Also see (ear canal insertions related) : The iPod — a shield, weapon, or both?

[ Research research by Martin Gardiner ]