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Colonial Latin Americ A Strong Gender Hierarchy

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Colonial Latin America had a strong gender hierarchy that was maintained through a mix of social and legal control. Spain enacted policies restricting the immigration of women to it colonies in the Americas. In order to mold colonial society in accordance to the ideals of the family society that existed in Spain waves of female emigration laws were passed in the 1530s and 1540s. The conditions created for women to emigrate from Spain created an uneven hierarchy where men held greater autonomy. One-law states that single women could not migrate to the colonies, unless they were going to be under their father’s care because of the crown feared the increasing prostitution epidemic that was prevalent in the colonies. Further laws were passed …show more content…

A woman’s virtue was a major social control because it was the only guarantee that her child would be of the man’s lineage, bloodline, and status. This was a strict double standard that conceptualizes women as being inferior to men while holding them to a higher standard than men. These social customs where largely ignored in practice was the colonies were filled with high levels of illegitimacy which never fell below 40% between whites and mestizos and it was even higher for Native Americans and Africans. Women with status had the means of resisting the patriarchal control. They could exercise parental control over their children, and estates if their husbands gave them legal consent, they could also freely sell property. They maintained control of property they held before their marriage and if widowed they received their dowries and a portion of their husbands’ assets. Dowries functioned as insurance for the women incase her husband died. These laws enabled women to inherit and administer properties. This enabled well off women to use the legal system and the courts to negotiate better terms in the gender hierarchy. Education was also used to perpetuate the gender hierarchy as women were severely kept out of education. Education

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