Femininity In Susan Kellogg's Weaving The Past

Patriarchal societies, by definition, are dominated by the male presence and female subordination. Men decide on political, social, and religious policies while women are restricted to managing the household and taking care of children. In many past and present patriarchal societies, women are reduced to mere property. Masculinity symbolizes strength while femininity reflects weakness. Although the position of women has improved in most societies with feminist movements, most men and women still see femininity as being a weakness. There are double standards that are more limiting for women than for men. These limitations stem from hundreds of years of misogyny which still facilitate a huge imbalance between the power men and women uphold in …show more content…
In examining paintings, deities, and figurines of the Sinú people, Kellogg concludes that the female figurines in seats of authority reflects the social positions that the Sinu women held. These deities reflected images of goddesses who were responsible for fertility and nature. These female idols provided societies with the resources necessary for survival. With these figurines representing life, Kellogg suggests that Sinu women and other women in Mesoamerica were worshipped for their ability to give birth. In many of the civilizations of South and Central America, women held positions that were structured as a hierarchy and were “parallel to those of men,” (Kellogg 27). The idea that women held responsibilities that were structured similar to men highlights a mutual respect for each gender’s work. In the early Nahua colonies, women were held against similar scrutiny as men in terms of wealth and skill. The Nahua colonies honored matrilineal inheritance, that is, a woman owned the property and wealth presented as dowry. With the possession of property, women were subjected to the same possibility of falling into poverty. Women were also expected to apply their skill and effort to their work within the household in a similar fashion that men must apply their skills and effort to their work in the city. In the …show more content…
For instance, in Mexican culture, divorce is shameful, but when a couple divorces, women get the worst of it. They are expected to continue supporting their children whether or not the father contributes to it. For women who have lived as housewives for most of their lives, they resort to housekeeping or other jobs with more physical labor than payment. However, in Juchitan, one woman describes how her father willingly gave away some of his cattle in order to provide her some money to get a career going. The woman, then, began a business of selling fermented fruits and ended up supporting her children through school. Women in Juchitan are taught early on how to work within a community, not just in a domestic setting. However, this doesn’t exclude men either. One market vendor stated that, “if our daughter studies, she has to work at home so she can go to school. The same with the boys.” The people of Juchitan are also very accepting of the LGBTQ communities. In the eyes of the Juchitan people, sexuality and gender complexity is something dealt with inside the walls of the home. Outside of the home, everyone is working and contributing to the society. This acceptance, again, goes against the typical Mexican culture that holds strong ties to Catholicism. People are shamed for being homosexual or transgender and parents are often embarrassed having a child that