A Gendered History of Colonial Spanish-American Cities and Towns, 1500s–1800

Transforming Mesoamerican cities and Andean administrative and ceremonial centres into the hubs of Spanish power and commerce affected men and women differently, creating new roles and relations. For centuries, prior to the arrival of southern Europeans and their slaves among Mesoamerican Aztecs, Maya and Tlaxcalans, women enjoyed public ceremonial roles, individual property rights and a presence in city markets. In short, pre-Hispanic gender roles allowed women to fulfil specific local religious, political, market functions. Urban Mediterranean traditions of restricting women’s activities as healers, public figures and commercially active members of society clashed and at times blended with long-established practices. From the 1500s to the 1700s, Iberian norms of behaviour and organization penetrated deeper into colonial society and even into rural towns. These changes affected marriage patterns and other interactions between men and women while continuing to allow female domination of local markets.