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The Role of the Female Body in the Mexican Colonial Period as Seen through Studies of Historical Demography

1992; Binghamton University; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/jowh.2010.0135

1527-2036

Elsa Malvido,

Latin American and Latino Studies

lNTERNAnONAL TRENDS: The Role of the Female Body in the Mexican Colonial Period as Seen through Studies of Historical Demography Elsa Malvido Translated by Joan M. Hoffman Definition of Woman in 1611: Woman. From the Latin noun mulier. I could say many things about this word; but others have said them, and with more freedom than would seem reasonable. What I wül say now is to be understood of those women who, fleeing from the modest demeanor that is their obügation, Uve in ease, loosening the reigns of their nature so that it may run uncontrollably free; not of the prudent withdrawn ones, whose honor is their destiny and who have been the credit and glory of nations and monarchies. This presupposed, I agree with Saint Maximus that the wicked woman is the torment of the home, the destruction of man, distress for the tranquü, captivity in Ufe, continual harm, voluntary war, a domesticated beast, poison disguised, and a necessary evü. "We exist," said one woman, "to give poor advice, to convey very powerful injuries and misfortunes; and in the factory of deceptions we are great artisans." Diogenes saw some women whom justice had punished, hanging , as was the penalty, infamously from an oUve tree, and he said: "If only aU the world's trees bore such fruit!" This enigma—woman—is like a ship battered about in angry waves by the North Wind: Let us set saU with some examples: In Athens they posted the riddle: M. M. M. M. Those geniuses attempted various and flowery explanations, but without success. Only Plato was able to decipher the puzzle: Mulier mala mors mariti.2 Original article, ©1990 Floricanto Press. Translated article, © 1992 Journal of Women's History, Vol 4 No. ι (Spring) This article originaUy appeared in Spanish titled as "El uso del cuerpo femenino en la época colonial mexicana a través de los estudios de demografÃ-a histórica" in Between Borders: Essays on Mexicana/Chicana History, ed. Adelaida R. Del Castillo (Encino, CA: Foricanto Press, 1990), 113-130. 120 Journal of Women's History Spring Being of considerable stature himseU, Democritus married a diminutive woman. Asked why he had taken such a smaU wife, he responded: "I chose the lesser of the evils." FinaUy, speaking of women Marcus AureUus said: "The love of aU women combined can be condensed into one piU, but the passion of just one cannot be remedied by aU the rhubarb in Alexandria."3 Introduction Historical demography explains how people respond to the laws imposed on them by social control. In general those laws are obeyed: only in exceptional cases are they violated. But in certain circumstances the violation of them is more widespread than adherence. Two historical sources enable historians to quantify demographic phenomena for the Mexican colonial period: censuses, partial or total counts of population, and vital statistics gathered from registers of baptism , marriage, and death. In spite of the richness of information in these sources, they need to be complemented by data from other documents that entiven them and help place them in their proper historical context. Even though woman is not the focus of these investigations of historical demography, through such investigations we can see some problems that affected the role of the female body in the colonial period. The colonial period of New Spain lasted 300 years and covered an immense geographical territory with indefinite borders within which occurred distinct cultures. Consequently, the documentation that we use to quantify our study reflects this complexity and lack of unity. The Spanish monarchs always aspired to unify their kingdoms. They made use of reUgious unity and, upon imposing it, they succeeded in destroying the Indians and confiscating their property. Other imposed elements for unification were the Spanish language and forced subjugation to the Crown, aU of which produced a biosocial pathology foreign to America.4 The Biological Woman: Fertility The role of the female body has long been legislated against and controUed according to the principles of Holy Scripture and the Commentaries of the Church Fathers; there is no discrepancy between retigion, civü legislation, and sociaUy accepted customs. Legislation pertinent to the female body must not be considered exceptional...