Women Yearn for the Medieval
Some thoughts on medieval escapism (laudatory)
Modern Medieval
by David M. Perry and Matthew Gabriele
Earlier this year, we wrote a piece for Slate about how 2025 was the year of the Middle Ages. There we noted that, inspired in part by the huge rise in the book genre of “romantasy,” as well as certain celebrity aesthetics (“castlecore”) the trend was turning away from modernity and towards the Middle Ages.
But more than simply vibes (though it is in part vibes), we argued that the type of medievalism we were seeing was something smarter - something heavily gendered and a type of critique of 2020s modernity.
We wrote:
If… we see castlecore as a fantasy of luxury, wealth, and comfort, what is it pushing against? The other version of wealth and power that Western society has offered in the wake of COVID lockdowns is tech-bro futurism. ChatGPT rolled out at the end of 2022, and A.I. has been sweeping over every industry. The Cybertruck went into production in 2023 and immediately became a cultural flashpoint. Almost all of 2024’s attention was consumed by the American general election, which featured a Republican campaign that heavily relied upon tech bros and their allies in venture capital. This heavily gendered male culture advocates for unfettered freedom to poison the Earth, amass vast wealth, to move fast and break things. We see that at work right now in Elon Musk’s illegal takeover of the federal government.
The medievalism of castlecore offers people, especially women, a way to critique this tech-bro futurism… What’s more, it’s a way to engage in a kind of history that points toward a different kind of world, without being accused of being Luddites or becoming toxic nostalgics. This is a different way of using historical aesthetics than what you see from the tradwife community, which takes nostalgia for an imagined past seriously, or at least projects seriousness as part of its propaganda tool. Here, the sense of play, the silliness, and even the dragon-themed sex toys of castlecore signal differently.
And now just this past Friday, the Today Show with Jenna aired a piece that plays into exactly what we’re talking about. Apparently, “Medieval Times” (medieval-themed dinner theater) is all the rage for Girls’ Knight Out.
Granted, the segment (which you can watch above) is all puff and fun. But there’s other things to think about, such as the group of young women at 2:49 who want to “escape reality” for a while and see some horses, and also how clearly the knights are positioned a (safe) eye candy.
Or, to put it another way, Medieval Times might be good for a Girls’ Knight Out because it’s a place where we don’t have to give up the benefits of modernity but still can imagine a different, more playful way of being. Rather than techbro feudal fantasies that wants to subjugate everyone who isn’t them, in this version of 2025’s medievalism, everyone can be treated like a queen (at least for a few hours).
Thanks for reading Modern Medieval! Subscribe for free to receive new posts every week.