Women's Role In Mayan Society

Women of Aztec society played almost no role in the political affairs of a society. Women were not able to inherit property or hold high officials as the women of the Mali were able to do.

Throughout time, there are many instances of early civilizations accomplishing breathtaking feats that we find awe worthy even today. These cultures helped shape humanity as a whole, and paved the way for people everywhere. Of these early cultures, one of the most remarkable was undoubtedly the Mayans. The Mayans lived in Mesoamerica, around Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. They were an isolated group of people that thrived on farming and raised crops such as Maize, Beans, and Chili Peppers. They also Fished often and hunted Deer and other woodland creatures.

The Maya were a people from Middle America, which includes modern Guatemala, Southern Mexico, and Northern Belize (Editors). The Maya civilization was considered to be “one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica,” (Maya). “The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making, and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork,” (Maya). They also gave mankind the modern calendar (Jarus, Maya). The Mayans were a very advanced people, but one of the most important things in the Mayan culture was their religion/god worshipping rituals.

The priestly class lived in the cities, while the general population lived away in small farming villages. The priests would carry out daily religious duties, particularly sacrifices, and the peasants would gather periodically for religious ceremonies and festivals. They built the ceremonial centers in a specific design for religious practices. They constructed tall pyramid temples, warren-like single story palaces, and a ball court that was surrounded by a broad central plaza. The architectural features of the Mayan pyramids include towering roofs, corbel vaults, and elaborate embellishment with stucco reliefs (Palfrey 2). It is amazing to imagine the detail that the Mayans were able to create in their architecture with only primitive tools. For the Mayans, science and religion were linked. Time was extremely important and their agriculture and religious ceremonies required a system that could record time.

The Maya were also a farming society like the Aztecs. They too, worshiped many gods, whom they felt were responsible for their survival. Gods of rain, wind, and sun were among the ones most worshiped. Mayan leaders went to war to try and capture the ruler of another city. If they did they would sacrifice the prisoner, again much like the Aztecs (Mexico).

When one pictures the societies that spanned throughout our Mesoamerica and South America the images of warriors, conquests, gold and great feats of architecture, spawn in the mind. Missing from not only there, but the focus of many studies are the crucial roles that women played in these societies. Between each society; the Mayan, Aztec and Inca, each has their own unique culture and role for women within it. One wonders the roles of women in society, where does she fit in; politics, religious practices, and within the home. These roles are dictated by the characteristics of the society in which they live. It is crucial to begin uncovering for each of these societies, the roles of which the women took on, through exploring three subject matters, the role of women concerning government and law, politics, the role of women in day-to-day life and lastly, religious roles of women.

A woman was valued if she could have babies, be a good mother and care for her household and her husband. In other words a married woman. A woman’s role was to cater to her husband. It was very rare they worked anywhere but a house.

During this time in Aztec society, women played significant roles in society, although men were still widely dominant. Women were sometimes owned by men, in result women had very little chance to take part in government and religious activities. However while men worked in agriculture and fought in battles, women were to stay at home and were to determine in attempt to raise children, weave, and cook for their family. Women were taught to do these tasks starting from young ages. They were taught as young girls at home skills that were significant for marriage such as spinning by age four and cooking by age twelve. The work to be done at the home were not the only roles women played, they also shared activity in the work force, such as merchants, traders, scribes, courtesans, healers, and significant midwives. http://www.precolumbianwomen.com/

The Maya were known for their agriculture, trade, science and religion. They had a complex writing system and developed a calendar from observing the earths movements around the sun. One can’t say that just one

The Mayan civilization existed in central america from to 250-900 CE. The Mayans were located in Mesoamerica which is mondern day Central America which includes southern Mexico , Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. In the western hemisphere, no early culture was more remarkable than the Maya. The Mayans were extremetly a pre industrial society that had many achievements. Those achievements include a developed calendar, a unique number system, and most importantly their trade networks.

Women tended crops and cared for the home. Their ability to be fertile was important. Events like the Green Corn Ceremony were established to sustain the fertility-ness of the world.

The Mayans were hardworking people who lived in Mesoamerica. A thousand years ago before the spanish arrived, the maya built a great civilization. What many seem to question is what was so remarkable about what this group did.The four criterias scale, genius, physical effort and significance will be examined to see which was actually remarkable. People today argue over which Mayan achievement was the greatest - the trade network, numbers, calendars, and city-buildings , however true to say is that the building cities was the achievement that set the group off to great contributions.

These women were responsible for tending house, bearing and caring for children, and domestic manufacturing. These women worked hard to care for their families and to turn the raw materials their husbands provided into useable goods.

Women played a very important role in the life of Native Americans. They were more than just people in charge of the tribes, they were builders, warriors and crafts women's basically everything. Their strength was essential to the to the survival of the tribes. They were in charge of gathering materials to build everyone's homes.

The situation of women in the pre-Columbian era was like any other culture because men had power. The woman lacked rights, equality and autonomy. Often, women were treated as an object. In the case of one of the most developed pre-Columbian civilizations, the Aztecs, a situation occurred with the rights of women with Dona Marina, also known as the Malinche. She was a girl of the Aztec culture, who after a clash between tribes was surrender as a slave, because that was the tradition of those times. “Later, Malinche was again ceded as a slave, but this time to Hernan Cortes by the cacique of Tabasco, along with 19 other women, some pieces of another and a set of blankets” (Castillo, 2014). Afterwards, Hernan Cortes learned that Malinche spoke several languages and did not hesitate to use her as an interpreter in order to unite alliances with the indigenous peoples conquered by the Aztecs, thus facilitating the conquest of the empire.