The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Linda Fregoso interviews historian Iris Blanco about the role of women in Aztec society before and after the conquest. Blanco has written several articles about the role of women in Aztec society and conducted her research in Mexico and Spain. Aztec society was stratified into two classes: noble and popular, and the role of women was transformed when the Spaniards conquered Mexico. Blanco explains that the Spaniards who conquered Tenochtitlan and subsequent historians have mystified Aztec society. The Chicano Movement often idealized it, while ignoring its pervasive inequality. These interpretations not only mask the complexity of Aztec society, but also ignore the very diverse roles women in different class occupied. She explains that while noble women were highly protected, they were also highly repressed. She talks about the structure of Aztec noble families and the practice of polygamy. She next looks at women of the popular class, whose work sustained Aztec society. She examines how these women cared for their children and husband while working an outside job. They had more freedom than noblewomen, but also more responsibility and she describes some of their occupations. She also explains that while men could move upwards in society through wartime heroics, a woman could only increase her status by dying in childbirth, which elevated her to the status of a goddess. Blanco then discusses her research on oficiales, women where specialized artisans and the internal stratification of their work. Blanco then talks about how the Spanish conquest altered Aztec society. She explains that many Aztec noblewomen lost status. She discusses how missionaries sought to win the favor of Aztec nobility by protecting Aztec women from Spanish mistreatment. Keywords: Artisans, Aztecs, Bernal Diaz de Castillo, Catholicism, Chicano History, Chicano Indigenous Heritage, Chicano Movement, Christianity, Cinema, Conquest, Conquistador, Dolores Del Rio, Family, Fertility Rates, Franciscans, Goddesses, Historiography, History, Iris Blanco, Macehual, Media Representations of Minorities, Mesoamerican Society, Mexico, Missionaries, Nahuatl, Nobility, Polygamy, Quetzalcoatl, Religion, Social Mobility, Spaniards, Tenochtitlan, Textiles, Toltecs, Valley of Mexico. Broadcast date: 1982-01-08.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator), Fregoso, Rosa Linda. (host), and Blanco, Iris (interviewee)
Date Created/Date Issued:
12/28/1981
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin
sound recordings, grabaciones sonoras, radio programs, programas de radio, and Audio
Extent:
24 minutes, 16 seconds
Rights - Use and Reproduction:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Language:
English and Spanish
Place of Publication:
Austin (Tex.)
Topic:
Movimiento chicano, Chicano Movement, Aztecs--First contact with other peoples, Aztecas--Primer contacto con otros pueblos, Aztec women, Aztecs--Social life and customs, Mexico--Civilization--Indigenous influences, Mujeres aztecas, and Aztecas--Vida social y costumbres