1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910780325403321

Autore

Joyce Rosemary A. <1956->

Titolo

Gender and power in Prehispanic Mesoamerica [[electronic resource] /] / Rosemary A. Joyce

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Austin, : University of Texas Press, 2000

ISBN

0-292-79835-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (288 p.)

Disciplina

305.3/0972

Soggetti

Indians of Central America - Social life and customs

Indians of Mexico - Social life and customs

Sex role - Central America

Sex role - Mexico

Maya women

Aztec women

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [215]-259) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Gender, performance, power, and representation -- Negotiating sex and gender in formative Mesoamerica -- Narratives of gender among the Classic Maya -- Transforming gender: Classic to Postclassic Maya -- Becoming human: body and person in Aztec Tenochtitlan.

Sommario/riassunto

Gender was a fluid potential, not a fixed category, before the Spaniards came to Mesoamerica. Childhood training and ritual shaped, but did not set, adult gender, which could encompass third genders and alternative sexualities as well as "male" and "female." At the height of the Classic period, Maya rulers presented themselves as embodying the entire range of gender possibilities, from male through female, by wearing blended costumes and playing male and female roles in state ceremonies. This landmark book offers the first comprehensive description and analysis of gender and power relations in prehispanic Mesoamerica from the Formative Period Olmec world (ca. 1500-500 BC) through the Postclassic Maya and Aztec societies of the sixteenth century AD. Using approaches from contemporary gender theory, Rosemary Joyce explores how Mesoamericans created human images to represent idealized notions of what it meant to be male and female and



to depict proper gender roles. She then juxtaposes these images with archaeological evidence from burials, house sites, and body ornaments, which reveals that real gender roles were more fluid and variable than the stereotyped images suggest.