The Secret History of Gender: Women, Men and Power in Late Colonial Mexico

xiii+478 pages with pictorial title page, tables, maps, appendix, bibliography and index. Royal octavo (9 1/2" x 6 3/4") bound in original publisher's red cloth with black lettering to spine. First edition.

In this study of Gender relations in late colonial Mexico (ca 1760-1821), Steve Stern analyses the historical connections between gender, power and politics in the lives of peasants, Indians and other marginalized peoples. Through vignettes of everyday life, including the routine conflicts and violence that resulted from cultural arguments over gender right, he challenges assumptions about gender right, he challenges assumptions about gender relations and political culture in a patriarchal society. He also reflects on the continuity and change between late colonial times and the present and suggest a paradigm for understanding similar struggles over gender rights in Old Regime societies in Europe and the Americas. Stern purses three major arguments. First, he demonstrates that non-elite women and men developed contending models of legitimate gender authority and that these differences sparked bitter struggles over gender right and obligation. Second, he reveals connections, in language and social dynamics, between disputes over legitimate authority in domestic and familial matters and disputes in the arenas of community and state power. The result is a fresh interpretation of the gendered dynamics of peasant politics, community, and riot. Third, Stern examines regional and ethnocultural variation and finds that his analysis is applicable beyond particular locales and ethnic subgroupings within Mexico. The historical arguments and conceptual sweep of Stern's book will inform not only students of Mexico and Latin America but also students of gender in the West and other world regions. Stern's interpretation both undermines and transcends of a single Latin American gender culture, including the notions of male rage and female complicity.

Condition:

A near fine copy in a fine jacket.