Latin American Gender Roles

Gender Constructs and the State
SOC337: Contemporary Latin American Society
University of Phoenix

Gender Constructs and the State

1. In what way were Latin American gender roles and political equality related in pre-colonial times?
Pre-colonial Latin American gender roles were not a far cry different from the gender roles re-established post colonialism. In Mesoamerica, most work was delegated by gender with men hunting and women performing gathering responsibilities (Blout, 2010, p. 137). However, there is also evidence that although there were typical gender roles in place, they did not limit women politically. In many Mesoamerican cultures, “women are seen as possessing a direct link between the living and the ancestors or spirits” (Dornan, 2004, p. 6). This direct link to the mysterious and sacred, lent women the power to become strong rulers like Yol Ik Nal of the ruler of Palenque, the Maya city-state from A.D. 583 to 604.
2. How did sociopolitical institutions affect Latin American gender constructions in the
It held power over gender roles and the power associated to those roles. The Church could make “determinations pertaining to marriage, annulment, sexuality, and legitimacy of birth” (Meade, 2010, p. 98). Even when such laws were secularized, women were not given any leave and were still held to the same restrictions they suffered under religious rule. Under secular rule, men were allowed to commit adultery by law; however for women adultery had become a capital offense. Men could even kill their wives and adulterers when caught in the act without penalty. The Church, with “its immense power in a country fanaticized by it,” disseminated the inferiority of women constructing an ideal that they were unworthy of protection and privilege (Meade, 2010, p.