Women in Colonial Latin America

The role of women in colonial Latin America was largely determined by the racial group and social class into which they were born. In his book, The women of colonial Latin America, Susan Migden Socolow identifies additional factors that caused differences in women’s lives. These other factors include “demographics, cause of life, spatial variations, local economy, norm and reality, and change over time” (Socolow 1).

Socolow argues that among these additional variables, demographics were the most important. This is due to the fact that “the ratio of men to women could improve or limit women’s options” (Socolow 2). Women’s experiences also changed as they grew older and took on different roles in life, for example, from childhood to marriage and widowhood. The economy of the area where the women lived also had an effect on them, as women in a more prosperous area (especially elite women) lived more comfortably than their counterparts in less prosperous areas. Socolow argues that these women did not always follow the social ideal of women imposed by the patriarchal society and, of course, there were different ideals for each race and class of women. And finally, these ideals of women, in some cases, changed over time.

The social ideal of the Iberian woman, in the Old and the New World, was strongly influenced by the Islamic tradition, which consisted of keeping women cloistered at home. Female virginity at the time of marriage also has an effect on family honor and is strictly controlled. This was especially true of elite Spanish women, although many women found ways to evade their chaperones to meet their lovers, as evidenced by the number of abandoned Spanish children. This confinement of Iberian women was both a blessing and a curse; Although they did not have the freedom to move like lower-class women, they escaped the social stigma associated with women appearing on the streets. Nor were these Iberian women expected to work, at least not outside the home. Elite women did not work at all, apart from supervising the work of domestic servants and slaves. Iberian women also benefited from laws such as marriage and inheritance laws that were not extended to other racial groups and social classes.

Women’s roles in pre-conquest Latin America varied by ethnic group, but many native societies “controlled female sexuality in strikingly similar ways to the Spanish” (Socolow 19). Unlike Spanish property and inheritance laws, “generally the land was in the hands of men,” but women could own personal property (Socolow 21). Also like the Spanish, the indigenous peoples had a strict sexual division of labor, although their views on what constituted women’s and men’s work differed from the Spanish, and even from region to region.

After the arrival of the Spaniards, the role of indigenous women changed radically. Elite indigenous women became attractive candidates for marriage to non-elite Spanish men, because these women brought greater social status and wealth to the marriage. Elite Spanish men (those who participated in the conquest) took elite indigenous women as concubines, but did not usually marry them. Women who did not belong to the elite had more difficulties since the Spanish conquerors sexually and economically abused them.

Mestizo women (those born of Spanish-Indian unions) were also potential marriage partners, especially those “who inherited from their conquering parents” (Socolow 37). Socolow argues that “the perceived wealth and social status of mestizas outweighed any possible problems associated with legitimacy and race” (Socolow 37). Many poor mestizas became concubines of the Spanish, until Iberian women became numerous in Latin America. As Latin America became more settled, mestizo women found their acceptance “increasingly difficult in Spanish society” (Socolow 38).

Unlike Iberian women, most indigenous and mestizo women were forced to work in order to survive and pay their tribute. Women who frequently appeared in public were suspected of being immoral and lacking in honor. Employment outside the home used to be an extension of women’s duties within the home; that is, the women worked as domestic servants, midwives, “or on their own account laundresses, caretakers, laundresses, cleaners, seamstresses, weavers, embroiderers, nurses, and cooks” (Socolow 119).

Although indigenous women were sexually and economically exploited, they had some legal rights against abuse, which were denied to enslaved women, that is, African women. These women were considered property and as such had “even less power to resist the sexual advances of their masters than Indian women” (Socolow 134). Although there were laws to protect slaves from abuse, in the few cases where a female slave did file a complaint, it was generally dismissed because the courts “prioritized the testimony of a white man” (Socolow 134).

However, enslaved women enjoyed some rights and privileges. In many circumstances, they were allowed to sell their work in the cities and keep part of their profits. This allowed them the opportunity to save money to buy their freedom. Other female slaves could achieve manumission by engaging in sexual relations with their owners. Because of these relationships, many enslaved women were heads of households, since paternity of mulatto children was rarely acknowledged. The Spanish crown and the Catholic Church encouraged female slaves to marry, although most of their white owners opposed this, as it tended to make it difficult to sell the slave. However, some slaves did marry, but they were generally the slaves of “people of higher social status” (Socolow 135).

Convents in Latin America offered some freedoms for Spanish women during colonial times. Many elite women whose parents were unwilling or unable to provide a dowry were encouraged to become nuns. At that time, future nuns had to be white and have “purity of blood” (Socolow 94). The traced convents required that a dowry be given to the convent to support the woman; Poor Spanish women were “given special licenses to beg in order to accumulate the necessary dowry for the white veil” (Socolow 96).

The convent was hierarchically structured, made up of black-veiled nuns (who were the elite women) and white-veiled nuns. Barefoot convents did not require dowries, but they did require an “annual income to support the nun” (Socolow 97). Calced convents also allowed property-owning nuns to manage their estates, which was generally not allowed in the outside community. Nuns were allowed to have slaves and servants in covens with them. The convents also had educational opportunities for women who were not encouraged to continue in colonial society. The convents became a refuge for women and girls “in need of protection, shelter and support, regardless of their marital status” (Socolow 103). In later times, convents designed for other races and classes opened in Latin America, despite opposition from elite Spanish nuns.

Many changes occurred during these women’s lives, but the level of change was very closely determined by their race and class. During the Enlightenment period in Europe, the education of women became more popular. However, in colonial Latin America, this education was confined to elite women and only involved education in domestic responsibilities with enough reading and writing for them to understand their religious studies. The lower classes remained largely illiterate.

Socolow, Susan Migden. The women of colonial Latin America. Cambridge University Press, 2000.