Gender Roles in the Aztec and African Empires. Emily White

Gender Roles in the Aztec and African Empires Emily White Faculty Sponsor: Rayne Allinson Department of Social Sciences, University of Michigan-Dearborn The Aztec and African empires were both great polities of the medieval world, but they existed at separate ends of the earth. The African kingdoms existed throughout the continent of Africa near influential European and Muslim empires, while the Aztec empire was largely isolated in what is now modern day central Mexico (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, pp. 373-382,416-418). In each society, each gender, male and female, had a role to play and a place in the social hierarchy. Family also played a role in each society. The roles that gender and family played in each society varied according to the social structure and culture of the society. Despite being thousands of miles away from one another, the Aztecs and the Africans developed similar gender and family roles, but differences did exist. The similarities and differences between the Aztec and African gender and family roles can be explained by geography, economy, and proximity to other empires. In Africa, the roles of women varied from polity to polity, but African women typically experienced more opportunities than women in other parts of the world (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, p. 383). It was unusual but not impossible for women to hold power in Africa, and on a few occasions, women held considerable power and even ruled. Queen Gudit of Ethiopia was a skilled leader and military commander who led her soldiers to victory over the Christian kingdom of Aksum ( Queens, 2005). Other women, such as Empress Eleni, held power by being prominent queen mothers, who served kings and their kingdoms as advisors, emissaries, or politicians as well as regents ; they also had the same rights and authority as the males of the society ( Queens, 2005). In the Akan and Ashanti cultures of West Africa, women related to the king were often dubbed chiefs, thus obtaining power through relations ( Queens, 2005). Also in West Africa, the Mande and Yoruba peoples exhibited powerful female leadership, and the Tuaregs of West Sahara did as well ( Women in Medieval Africa, 2005). In addition to ruling, African women also enjoyed high honor as the sources of life (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, p. 383). They could accumulate wealth through trade, unlike many of their counterparts in other parts of the world (Beetz, 2008). This was accomplished through textile and mining operations as well as the selling of pots, agricultural products, cooked items, cloth, beads, and crafts ( Women in medieval Africa, 2005). Outside of power and ruling, most women in Africa were subject to a larger patriarchal society. Historians agree that a few generalizations regarding the treatment of women in Africa can be made. These generalizations being that women were subjects of discrimination by men, and that the men generally dominated economic and social life (Beetz, 2008). In African societies, women typically cooked and occasionally grew their own crops (Blackwell, 2008). They quarried clay, made pottery, built houses, tended vegetable gardens, traded goods, and cared for the children (Beetz, 2008). In pastoral societies, women usually were responsible for milking the livestock (Blackwell, 2008). Although they could accumulate wealth, they were not commonly active outside the home. Within the home, women commonly had to share their

husbands, because polygyny was fairly common in African societies as a male s status was enhanced by having multiple wives and children (Blackwell, 2008). The lesser wives, women who entered into a preexisting marriage, had to defer to the senior or first wife s experience ( Lesser wives, 2005). Thus, there was a hierarchy even among the women of African society. Men, in African society, were heads of their homes. They organized fields and decided who worked in them. They hunted and held exclusive rights to important crafts such as blacksmithing (Beetz, 2008). In addition to these responsibilities, they might also be in charge of a crop and may also weave textiles, depending on the society (Blackwell, 2008). They ruled as kings, tanned leather, worked metals, cleared land, and were more common than not the possessors of special skills (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, p. 383). Men experienced more privilege and prestige than women in most African societies, because they were largely patriarchal. Even in matrilineal societies, which were not very common, males held power (Blackwell, 2008). Although this dichotomized view of gender roles existed, Africans had a very flexible definition of gender. The sex or gender of the person performing the gender role could in a sense be reversed, because in African societies, males could be declared females or vice-versa. Thus, a man who was declared a woman could take care of the children, while his female husband could hunt. Getting these declarations made often involved a ritual as well as challenges, because controversy was common (Beetz, 2008). Nonetheless, they could be made, creating more flexibility regarding gender roles in African society. The family unit in medieval Africa also varied greatly from place to place, with the clan being the largest unit. In Africa, a clan was a unit of many people related by blood and marriage, and it was extremely important in many African societies because it often raised the children. In the Bantu culture, children called all their father's brothers father, all their mother's sisters mother, and all the children of those two relatives "sister" or brother (Blackwell, 2008). Family life also demonstrated the dominance of males in African societies as fathers often arranged marriages between their children. Additionally, grooms would pay a bride-price to the bride s family for her work as a domestic housekeeper and mother. Despite being considered inferior, the bride was valued, both for her love and as the connection between descendants and ancestors. Family in medieval Africa was central to all significant life events, and therefore played an important role in this civilization (Blackwell, 2008). In the Aztec Empire, there was a stricter dichotomy of gender roles and expectations, and patriarchy was dominant. Men focused mainly on military and city business. Many of them were trade workers, engaging in wood carving, stone working, mosaic making, feather robe and headdress making, metal working, hide tanning, soil tilling, and sandal making. Others served as bodyguards, priests, or apprentices. Young men were trained as warriors (Roberts, 1939, p. 3). In general, men were expected to be good warriors, husbands, and fathers. Bad husbands were those who mistreated, beat, or spoke poorly of their wives (Aguilar-Moreno 2006a). As fathers, Aztec men were the source of their children s lineage. They were expected to store wealth for their families, regulate family life, distribute wealth with care, establish order in the home, and treat all their wives equally, as polygyny was a dominant practice of the Aztec culture. In the Aztec Empire, rulers were elected by the males of the previous ruler s family, and property was inherited by the eldest son. Although more domestic in nature, women were very important and respected in Aztec civilization (Aguilar-Moreno, 2006a). The women of the Aztec Empire were engaged in numerous household tasks, in marketing, and in teaching the daughters of the family (Roberts, 1939, p. 3). They were encouraged to serve God and their husbands and also to be chaste (Aguilar-Moreno, 2006a).

Their most important role was that of being a mother. They often married around the age of fifteen, although sometimes they would marry as young as age ten or twelve. As a wife and mother, women were expected to be clean, hardworking, talented at cooking, and good housekeepers. Women would spend a portion of their days grounding maize for meals not only for their own families, but for the community s priests and warriors as well. After childbirth, women were given a status comparable to that of a male warrior (Aguilar-Moreno, 2006a). If a woman died during childbirth, she was given the same honor and status as a warrior who died in battle, and she was distinguished by the special term cihuateteo ( Cihuateteo,1996). Aztec wives and mothers were not simply domestic servants. They often owned their own land, and they were vital to their family s economic state, because they would weave textiles for the purposes of trading or selling (Aguilar-Moreno, 2006a; Decker, 2008). Additionally, they were trained in using herbs for healing and medicine (Decker, 2008). Although subjected to a patriarchal society, Aztec women did enjoy a few rights. For example, widows were allowed and encouraged to remarry if they so desired, and elderly women enjoyed a retirement. The Aztec culture held the tradition that when a woman turned fifty years old, her domestic duties would end, and she would be respected for her wisdom and advice (Aguilar-Moreno, 2006a). Other roles performed by women include midwife, courtesan, sacrificial maiden, matchmaker, and priestess. In Aztec society, the midwife supervised and assisted with pregnant women and their deliveries. They performed rituals related to childbirth and managed the household while the wife was pregnant. Courtesans, although frowned upon by the larger Aztec society, did exist and satisfied a need for the warrior class. The sacrificial maiden was a companion to men close to their sacrificial death. She would pleasure the men and keep them company until they died. The matchmaker was a crucial person in Aztec society, because she was responsible for uniting compatible brides and grooms. She was responsible important steps and events throughout the entire road to marriage. Priestesses dedicated themselves to the service of the tribal temple, and would occasionally attend school for such a position (Aguilar-Moreno, 2006a). It was extremely rare for women in Aztec society to hold power, however, noblewomen were occasionally chosen as lesser rules in city-states surrounding the capital (Zborover, 2010). Family, like most domestic duties in Aztec civilization, was the responsibility of the women. They were to bear children, especially boys who would grow up to become warriors. Marriages occurred for the purposes of raising a family, although noblemen also usually married for money and alliances (Aguilar-Moreno, 2006a). It is suggested by some historians that four to seven people lived in the typical Aztec house. Regardless of the number of people living together, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors would all help raise the neighborhood children. Children were considered gifts from the gods, and were valued as such. Even though children were viewed as gifts regardless of gender, there were different actions taken and expectations depending on the sex of the baby. If the child was a boy, the midwife would take the umbilical cord to a battle field in hopes that he would grow to become a great warrior; whereas if the child was a girl, the midwife would place the umbilical cord on the hearth in hopes that she would become a good mother and wife (Aguilar-Moreno, 2006a). Similarly, a good son was expected to be obedient, humble, gracious, grateful, and reverent, while a good daughter was expected to be obedient, honest, intelligent, discreet, of good memory, respectful, prudent, modest, and chaste (Aguilar-Moreno, 2006b). The similarities of gender and family roles in the African and Aztec Empires can be traced to their economical similarities as well as their proximity to other empires. Both civilizations were dependent on hunting, agriculture, and trade. Anthropological as well as

sociological studies have found that as economies become more industrialized and stray away from the hunter-gatherer type society, equality lessens and a dichotomy begins to form (Lancaster, 1979, p. 539; Ballantine, 2011). This tendency occurs, because the work that women perform of raising children and keeping house in more industrialized societies is not viewed as equal to the men s protective and food-providing duties. In hunter-gatherer societies, women typically gather while the men hunt. Since each gender is equally providing nourishment for the tribe, they are treated equally. Since both the Aztecs and Africans were more industrialized and centralized than the egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies, it can be expected that they did not exhibit equal treatment of genders, because the men and women are not performing equivalent roles (Ballantine, 2011). Additionally, patriarchy resulted from the lack of mobility on the part of females. Often, women were tied to the home, because they were the source of nourishment for their infants. With their relatively greater mobility than females, males could deal with larger political units with greater ease. This shift was not in conflict with any other male roles, whereas for females such a shift was in conflict with their generative function (Lancaster, 1979, p.539). This resulted in the dominance of men in both civilizations. Another similarity between the two societies is that women enjoyed respect and honor as the sources of life (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, pp.383, 419). This can be reasoned from a survival standpoint, because without reproduction the civilization would eventually die off. It can also be reasoned from a practical standpoint in that children provide a source of new workers, warriors, and rulers to replace the old when they die. Proximity to other empires and peoples also played a role in the gender and family roles demonstrated in the Aztec and African Empires. The development of a patriarchal system in the African political units may partially stem from their proximity to the European and Islamic empires as well. In particular, their proximity to the Islamic Empires may have influenced their development of more patriarchal societies, because Islam practices patriarchy (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, pp. 376-378). Islam spread to Africa via trade routes and Muslim traders, and many Africans converted to Islam, although it was usually an Africanized Islam (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, pp. 376-378). This connection to the Islamic empires influenced the African empires, and therefore influenced the way women were treated in those empires. The Aztec, although they did not have any close imperial neighbors, could have been influenced by the existing peoples as they absorbed the religious beliefs common to Mesoamerica or later by the Spaniards who came to conquer them (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, pp. 421, 527-528). Many of the similarities between the Aztecs and the Africans stem from their similar economic systems, their desires for survival, and their proximities to other peoples. The differences between the Aztecs and Africans, however, stem from geography. The treatment of women in Africa was more varied and provided for more opportunities for women than in the Aztec Empire. This is because the African Empires and other polities covered a wider variety of land, and therefore required a wider variety of societal types than the Aztec Empire, which was concentrated in central modern day Mexico. Africa contains deserts, tropical rainforests, and many other environmental types. Not all of them lent themselves well to an agricultural society, thus many peoples, including those of the Sahara Desert, were nomadic hunter-gatherers (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, p. 374). In other parts of Africa, trade-based and agricultural-based societies developed such as the Kingdom of Kongo (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, p. 374). The wide variety of economies in Africa stems from the varied environment of the continent. This in turn leads to a varied treatment of women depending on the type of society they live in. The Aztecs were concentrated in a smaller, more uniform geographical region and

based their economy more on trade and tribute than the Africans, so there was not as much variance in the treatment of women (Bentley & Ziegler, 2010, pp. 417-418). This is the only major difference between women in these two civilizations, and it can easily be explained by geography. The medieval Aztec and African civilizations exhibited very similar gender and family roles, despite being on opposite sides of the globe. Both were dominantly patriarchal, commonly practiced polygyny, had dichotomized gender roles, and valued family as a source of new life. These similarities stem from their similar economic situations as well as their proximity to other peoples, such as the Islamic and European Empires as well as native populations. Their differences can be explained with simple geography and sociology. A wider variance in environment on the continent of Africa led to more diverse societies, which in turn led to a greater variance in the role of women and men. The Aztec Empire was concentrated in one area, so a stricter dichotomy formed. Nonetheless, these two distinct and separate societies formed comparable ways of dividing labor amongst the men and women, and they also followed similar values of family. These two civilizations illustrate that people can be quite similar in certain aspects regardless of the distance between them.

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