Peruvian Andean Women

This research will focus on the Andean cleaning lady of Peru in the sixteen century. First, I will search the quality that the woman compete in the Inca association. Secondly, I will conjecture on the impact the Spanish invasion had on the intention woman played in her phylogenetic relation, in the househ senescent, in religion and in singing with productive activities and politics. Later on, I will discuss the contradictory perceptions of the Andean woman as a victim and as a sharp negotiator. Furthermore, I will focus on change and continuation of the roles that wowork force played in troupe.The impact of the changes in the demography of Andean communities and all all over the Inca empire, the labour division and degradation of the status that women played in confederacy in contrast with the dealinghip between Spanish men and autochthonous women and its repercussions in the society. Peruvian Andean Woman Before the arrival of Spaniards onto Peruvian soil, Andean wom an enjoyed a respected position in the Inca society and was an active col crowdator and participant of the political, spectral and sparing life of the Inca Empire.Silverblatt (1978) presents incompatible elements to show the parallel role of woman and man in Inca societies, uniform the structure of kinships, she noticed that women were entitled to inherit drink downs following her maternal take up and men with their paternal line. She in addition observes that the authority in the kinship was not related to throw forwarduality but to birth order. She continues focusing on the active role of women in the economy and their labor roles specializing as weavers, brewers, traders and agronomists.A reference to a plead to Carlos V of Spain, requesting protection for endemical women from Spaniards abuses, stresses the importance of womens work as essential to place labor and complemental to mens. K arn Viera Powers (2000) noticed the clash between Spanish and aborigine genera lizeing of gender relations, gender roles and sexuality. She puts special emphasis in gender parallelism and complementary roles of men and women, acknowledging that women and men performed divers(prenominal) social, political and economic roles but that these where perceived as equally mportant and that their contributions were valued in the said(prenominal) manner. Powers argues that hymeneals was not a form of subordination but that the Andean ceremony clearly symbolized a union of equals through a rite gift exchange between husband and wife and between their families that was think to create balance and harmony between peers. The Spanish could not understand the way in which the Inca Empire worked, the Spanish failed to comprehend the reciprocity, parallel and complementary activities performed in the community and impacted a well organized agreement forever.The role of women in pregnancy, childbirth and childc atomic number 18 was associated with fertility and considere d signifi cigarettet to the subsistence and choice of the community. Every year the communities in the Inca empire were inspected by the Inca officials whom had the task to chose the about beautiful virgins to become wives of the Inca. The virgins called acllas, that means chosen in Quechua, were secluded in special institutions to guard their sexuality. These women were expert weavers that produced fine cloths that were used in religious ceremonies or given as gifts to Incas allies.Some were taken by the Inca as second wives or married to Inca nobles or to rulers of conquered territories to seal alliances. Polygamy and endogamy for political purposes was very common among the elite members of the Inca Empire. When the Spanish arrived, the Incas tried to consolidate alliances with them through offering women in marriage. In the words of Karen Viera Powers The Incas identification of beautiful young women to be wives to his allies, not only created intra-elite and interethnic bon ds through a reward system, but also produced a sophisticated, hybrid political system.The role of the women in the colonial society has been studied with prejudice towards women. Elinor Burkett (1978) condemns authors who have written with prejudice towards women and presents a different approach focusing on indigenous society by considering tribute as a kinfolk sort of than an individual obligation. Men and women worked as a team, as did the social unit family. then men and women even shared slightly professions. Karen Graubart (2000) explains this by citing the chronicles of Fray Bernabe Cobo The Indian women spin not only at home, but when they go outside, whether they are sanding in one place or walking.As long as they are not doing something else with their hands, walking does not interfere with their whirl, which is what most of them are doing when we meet them on the streets. Although women are the ones who generally practice this occupation as their own, nevertheles s, in some places the men consider it to be their own also. by and by making the thread, it is doubled and twisted they never weave with single threads. The corresponding women twist it in the same way as they spin it, and some of the men will generally help in this, especially the old men who are not able to do new(prenominal) work.Karen Graubert (2000) argues that the chronicles are bias identifying the work performed by Andean women as proper when they weave, shop chicha (corn beer), cook and undertake other type of agricultural work. When the Andean men produced textiles they were considered as artisans. While both, men and women were producing a garment to be paid as tribute for the state and religion, these activities were identified and constructed as distinct.Graubert observe a more detailed description of the works performed by women in the writings of Pedro Cieza de Leon, when he says These women are hard workers because they are the ones who break the ground, and so w in the fields, and reap the harvests. And many of their husbands are in the house twine and spinning and repairing their weapons and clothing, and doing other fe manlike activities. The Spanish had an ethnocentric view of how society, gender relations and religion were supposed to be.They imposed their political models onto Andean societies and destroyed the system of rules of the Inca society. Women were removed from their spring positions of authority, and the society was transformed into a male-centric society where women had to look on men for formal representation. Under Spanish rule, the Inca noblewomen were not allowed to calculate to new schools, only indigenous men were allowed into the educative system garment up by friars to educate the native elite. The Inca Queens of the Andes lost her status. Her role as the axis of the female political system was eliminated.The Spanish belief excluded women of all participation in religious practices and women were nix to pe rform former roles of midwife, healer and confessor. Although, despite all the efforts of the Spanish to convert Indians and introduced them to Christianity, Indians found slipway to hold onto their beliefs and to continue their ancestral practices. According to Irene Silverblatt (1978) Among the archival material in that respect is a legal suit which documents a cult to Woman Moon, a goddess venerated by women from several neighbouring communities.This feminine cult crossed community boundaries, articulating women from different kin groups in an organization centred around the worship of the moon. The Spanish, influenced by 800 historic period of war with the Moors, viewed the world under patriarchal eyes and condemned these practices. The transformation of the Inca society took place through Catholic syncretism Andeans understood the new religion through their religious believes, associating the image of Mary and female saints with the moon and mother earth.Spanish priests did not rest emphasising the importance of virginity and introduced legal codes that defined extramarital sex as criminal (Powers, 2000). The new Spanish system to hale labor, created changes in the role of women but also impacted the demography of the communities all over the Inca Empire. An example of this is found in the work of Bianca Premo she observed an imbalanced people in the Chucuito census, imbalance that she attributes to a combination of deception and real absence of men Almost 45 percent of adult women were said to be unmarriedThe total number of unmarried adults in the province seems higher(prenominal) than might be expected in communities where land rights were linked to marriage and where marriage amounted adulthood. The way in which the Spanish used, abused and transformed the musical arrangement of the tributary Inca system and its networks and lines of kinship have resulted in impoverishment and isolation of Andean regions.While in the Inca tributary system, th e organization taxed only men and women who were married, during the Spanish rule the taxes were imposed on men, women and widows. While the Andean male population was being depleted in the mines and through infections and diseases, the Spanish populations grew referable to immigration and higher birth rates (Powers, 2000). In 1618, legislation was enacted requiring women to stay in the villages, even if their husbands were absent or had disappeared.As Premo (2000) observed, the labor in mines, especially in the case of Potosi, left the community of Chicuito and other nigh communities without the support of men single women and widows were paying tribute by weaving textiles, with the aid of young children. Premo cited a local leader reporting The whole community is working for the benefit of the tribute and it is impossible to pay in silver more than we already are neither women nor the old nor the children can contribute more. In a community called Juli, Jesuits priests were ac cused to have had women locked up, stitchery day and night.Another example of exploitation of the women labor is found in a reference to a letter dated on 1672, where vicereine Conde de Lemos is quoted In these already dissipated provinces, the judges from Potosi take these Indians, leaving the land uncultivated and the women and children without anything to eat. In contrast to views that the women were exploited and abused by the Spanish, we also have the accounts of Elinor Burkett she recompiled information about Andean women working in household as domestics, inheriting from Spanish people, sewing and engaged in weakened trading while men were isolated in mining work, face and agriculture.According to Burkett, the proximity of Andean women to Spanish men, Spanish women and Spanish families put her in a privilege position than the Andean men she learnt the language, usance and ways of the Spanish. Burkett (1978), examining records of Potosi, finds Indian women selling pastry, candy, silver items, groceries, bread, preparing food and selling other goods and concludes that the Andean women is depicted as a strong, wilful woman, either Indian or mestiza, aggressive economically and socially.Conclusions After a thorough research of the role of the Peruvian women in the sixteen century, I have observed the great challenges that Peruvian women had encountered during that period, from having a religion an identity related to beauty, fostering and in some cases chosen as priests, they were not only forced into a new belief system but also forbidden to practice their religious rituals.Their Inca queens also lost any line of royalty and became mistresses. Their man, partner and parallel was taken by the new government and forced to labor. From being an integral part of the kin, women became workers, in many cases they were enslaved, chained, ravish and treated like the last rung in the ladder of society. Nevertheless, the Peruvian women, went to the mines look ing for their partners, to the point that Spain had to edict legislation to stop them.The Andean women, familiarized to the changes, she wove when she had to weave, but she also looked for other opportunities, migrated, sold cloths, became a trader, worked in Spanish household and also learnt the language. Nowadays, Peruvian indigenous women have just as much a central role within a household as 500 years ago they are often the primordial caregivers of family and kinship and continue to play a vital role in the Peruvian society.