PROGRAM INFO
- Title:
- Social Classes And Women In Aztec Society
- Program #
- 1982-06
- Theme:
- Identity
- Series:
- History, Women's Issues
- Host:
- Linda Fregoso
- Guest:
- Iris Blanco
- Date:
- Dec 28, 1981
Social Classes and Women in Aztec Society
Linda Fregoso interviews historian Iris Blanco about the role of women in Aztec society before and after the conquest. Blanco explains that the Spaniards who conquered Tenochtitlan and subsequent historians have mystified Aztec society. The Chicano Movement often idealized it, while ignoring its pervasive inequality. These interpretations not only mask the complexity of Aztec society, but also ignore the very diverse roles women in different class occupied. She explains that while noble women were highly protected, they were also highly repressed. She talks about the structure of Aztec noble families and the practice of polygamy.
She next looks at women of the popular class, whose work sustained Aztec society. She examines how these women cared for their children and husband while working an outside job. They had more freedom than noblewomen, but also more responsibility and she describes some of their occupations. She also explains that while men could move upwards in society through wartime heroics, a woman could only increase her status by dying in childbirth, which elevated her to the status of a goddess. Blanco then discusses her research on oficiales, women where specialized artisans and the internal stratification of their work.
Blanco then talks about how the Spanish conquest altered Aztec society. She explains that many Aztec noblewomen lost status. She discusses how missionaries sought to win the favor of Aztec nobility by protecting Aztec women from Spanish mistreatment. She also discusses how missionaries have left their mark on the historical record.
KEYWORDS
ArtisansAztecs
Bernal Diaz de Castillo
Catholicism
Chicano History
Chicano Indigenous Heritage
Chicano Movement
Christianity
Cinema
Conquest
Conquistador
Dolores Del Rio
Family
Fertility Rates
Franciscans
Goddesses
Historiography
History
Iris Blanco
Macehual
Media Representations of Minorities
Mesoamerican Society
Mexico
Missionaries
Nahuatl
Nobility
Polygamy
Quetzalcoatl
Religion
Social Mobility
Spaniards
Tenochtitlan
Textiles
Toltecs
Valley of Mexico