Women In Colonial Latin America

In the modern United States of America, equality among genders has improved over the years and still remains a concern in society. Gender equality differs from country to country and there are even greater differences if one looks back in history. An interesting analysis of the roles and rights of women can be made during Colonial Latin America in which women were seen as inferior when compared to men. However, the degree of inequality of men and women during this time in Latin America can be debated.

One major role of women in society was her position as a wife. There were two major groups of women who were most likely to get married in Colonial Mexico. These included the women of the elite class and indigenous women. Some living in traditional Indian communities or on missions often married as well. The Catholic clergy had a large influence on the decision of women to get married in addition to the traditional values of the society that encouraged marriage before having children. Some women, however, did not marry. The classes of society that were most likely to not get married included Castas, Mulattas, Mestizas, slaves, and poor Spaniards. Marriage in these groups of people was rare, especially when the economy was suffering.In general, a woman in Colonial Mexico did not choose her husband. Most of the time, the family of the woman had the largest influence on the matter. The average age of women who married during this time period was 20.5 years old and men were older than women in the majority of marriages. Sometimes girls as young as 14 years old were set up for marriage which also contributed to the reason why women did not have a say in who they married; they were often too young to have a voice in the matter or to be taken seriously. It was also most common for a woman to marry into the social class her father belonged to. This practice of marrying people who are socially similar and have a comparable socioeconomic background is called endogamy.

There were many social standards for women in marriages in Colonial Mexico. Women were only desirable to enter a marriage if they were virgins. This was somewhat of a double standard because if men were not pure coming into a marriage, it was not necessarily a problem. A woman’s main role in marriage was taking care of her husband and children as well as managing the household. This included a variety of tasks, some of which included cooking, cleaning, and teaching the children. Wives were not the head of the household, but they were not completely without influence either. In some situations, they would make decisions and take initiative. One major example was if the husband was absent, the wife took on the responsibility of managing funds and handling business. Although women were not entirely without control in a marriage, they were supposed to obey their husband’s orders. If a wife did not obey the husband, he had rights to punish her within reason. It was relatively easy for a husband to exceed reasonable punishments and as a result. Before colonial Latin America, patriarchy was practiced in society but was harsh. After the Christian Church started influencing Latin America, patriarchy became a slightly softer version. This system of society maintained the idea that men were superior and women were inferior, but it became more centered around love and kindness within families.

A Confessional manual written by Fr. Jayme de Corella in 1689 discussed the role of males being the dominant figure in a family. He informed the reader that men had the right to leading the household, but he emphasized that a husband must lead by example, for a person who is hypocritical in his leadership is sinning. In this Manuel, Corella informs the reader that the husband must discipline his wife and practice punishment where it is necessary and within reason. Because the boundaries of punishment “within reason” are so ambiguous, men often exceeded what most people would consider reasonable punishment and abused their wives. It was also fairly easy for a man to justify this type of harsh treatment of his wife in the eyes of God and the Christian Church because the rules were so lax. On another note, Corella expressed that man and woman were created differently, but women were made from a rib close to man’s heart and therefore women should be looked at as part of his own body and spirit. He encouraged loyalty and love between man and woman to be equal.

After the Spanish conquest, it was not uncommon to see women who owned land, especially in Central Mexico. It gave women something of value and security in the colonial society. It is somewhat surprising that women were able to own their own land in a society that deems women as greatly inferior. The Spanish ruling takes some credit for this. The Spanish government stayed committed to the legalities that defended the land tenure of women. When land became more rare and valuable, it was common for men of the female land owner’s family or even male neighbors sometimes challenged her land ownership by using their male dominance. When these disputes landed in court, the Spanish judicial system defended the women’s rights. Another reason women were able to own land was due to the decrease in indigenous population that left many vacant plots of land. Because the land was so plentiful during this time, it helped prevent men from trying to take over plots owned by women because they already had large amounts of land.

Women in colonial times were excluded from acquiring respectable jobs or being political officials during colonial times. One opportunity for women to be in a respected position was to be a musician. Musicians were considered highly educated and intellectual jobs in the colonial time period in Latin America. Therefore, it is surprising that women sometimes acquired these sorts of positions. Women received these jobs in nunneries because men were not allowed to enter convents. As a result, some women were granted with the opportunity to be educated in music from a young age to play for nunneries.

After analyzing the role and status of women in Colonial Latin America, it can be concluded that women were mostly inferior. In marriage, they had to respect and answer to their husbands and they were inferior in the eyes of the church. Politics was another area where women were inferior because they were not allowed to hold political offices. However, it could be argued that married women and men held equal importance. Women were given a large number of responsibilities in the household, had some room for decisionmaking, and they were also entrusted with the husband’s duties in the case of his absence. For this reason, in some aspects of marriage in Colonial times, the roles of women and men could be viewed as fairly equal in importance.