The Relationship Between Women's Bodies and Religion in Medieval Times

A paradox emerges from Women in the Middle Ages by Joseph and Frances Gies, in that women embody weakness and wickedness simultaneously. For centuries (and I do believe even now), women have been deemed intellectually underdeveloped and incapable of rational thought equal to men; yet at the same time, they have also been labeled cunning and have been blamed for the world's evils. Of course, there were women who were strong, pro-active, and effective in military affairs. However, the Gies note, it was never viewed as proof of their abilities, for their success was attributed to adopting a masculine mindset. Any quality that was considered purely GOOD, of God, was only possible if it's source was a man. Men only fell from grace when lead astray by the wiles of a woman.

Certainly, what I found most interesting in the text was the uneasiness in which society viewed the female body. While a woman's body could produce healing properties in medicine, it could also be a liability. According to the Gies, a woman's menstruation was seen as especially destructive:

"Most powerful of all, however, was menstrual fluid 'contact with it turns new wine sour, crops touched by it become barren, grafts die, seeds in gardens are dried up, the fruit of trees falls off, the bright surface of mirrors in which it is merely reflected is dimmed, the edge of steel and the gleam of ivory are dulled, hives of bees die, even bronze and iron are at once seized by rust, and a horrible smell fills the air; to taste it drives dogs mad and infects their bites with incurable poison' During the moon's eclipse, sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman brought disease and death" 

 That menstrual blood was seen as an inherently sinister force in a woman's body, to the extent where it could kill men and make dogs rabid, points to a larger belief prevailing in Medieval times; women, while not strong or adept in mind, were nonetheless always holding within them the supernatural (I don't know know if that is the exact right word to use, but for the purpose of explaining my thoughts, it is the closest I can think of), a supernatural that did NOT originate from God but did possess power. Rules that Hebrew men change their clothes after coming into contact with a menstruating women, that a Christian man not have intercourse with a menstruating woman, or that a Christian woman undergo "churching" before being readmitted into the church seemed meant for self-protection more than anything. These rules do not, in my opinion, merely point to disgust; they point to a fear of being overpowered by a perhaps demonic (?) threat, and a need to suppress that threat as soon as possible. That women were perceived as carrying this type of corrupt power leads me to this question; could women in Medieval times ever be truly  accepted by their respective religions, by the cultures that were manipulating those religions to their liking? Could a Christian woman who practiced Christianity be accepted as a true Christian, and could a Jewish woman who practiced Judaism be accepted as true Jew?  Even if they were model citizens and never erred in their lives, were they ultimate failures of their religions due to these inexplicable "forces" that manifested in the forms of bodily fluids and their beauty? If not, then how was salvation for women attainable?