Latin Women in 17th - 19th Centuries

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the sexual and marital lives of women in four major Latin American cities between the 17th and 19th centuries. By analyzing and comparing the experiences of women in Mexico City, Bahia, Buenos Aries and Lima, this paper shows that while there were certainly some differences in the intimate lives of the populations in these areas, there were more often vastly similar social norms and religious institutions which resulted in similar life experiences from one major city to another. Further, this paper discusses these differences and similarities in terms of their effects on the sexual and marital lives of the women in colonial Latin America.

From the Paper:

"Only women who were virgins when single, monogamous when married, and chaste when widowed were allowed legal discourse (Seed 1988). Sexual crimes such as concubinage, incest, bigamy, and abortion were often harshly punished when the offender were female (Seed 1988). Further, prostitution was illegal, as was adultery, and both were punishable by a loss of dowry and shares of community property, or imprisonment. In drastic cases, the husband was allowed to kill the woman (Seed 1988)."

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