Women in Aztec society were subjected to a variety of challenges. On the one hand, their social environment was largely founded on the gender complementarity principle, which characterized female and male as distinct but equal and interdependent elements of a greater productive totality. On the other hand, they were progressively subjected to an Aztec state-sponsored gender hierarchy ideology. Women were depicted as agents of cosmic disorder and foes destined for conquest in this philosophy, which glorified male soldiers.
Gender equality was prevalent in many aspects of Aztec culture, according to documentation from the sixteenth century. Aztec men and women considered their mothers' and fathers' families to be equal in importance. Houses, land, and transportable goods may be owned by both men and women, and they inherited these assets equally. In the market, in young men's and young women's residences, and in temples, men and women had equal positions of public power.The unwitting chieftain Achitometl, who had been asked to join in the celebrations, suddenly recognized his daughter's skin on the priest's body. The enraged Culhua took up weapons and were joined by others, and the Mexica were once again forced into the reeds and saline swamps of Lake Tezcoco in a violent melee of javelins and arrows. The next day, they paddled across the water in canoes and improvised rafts to the uninhabited islands.
Aztec women, on the other hand, were treated as second-class citizens, particularly in the art, rituals, and Aztec mythology promoted by the Aztec emperors. Women were portrayed by the state as instigators of strife and cosmic disorder, doomed to be defeated by more strong Aztec warriors.
Many of the elements that kept humans alive were controlled by female goddesses. Cihuacoatl/Coatlicue, the soil goddess, was paradoxically a goddess of both life and death, making her one of the most powerful. Cihuacoatl, like the ground, gave birth to the sun each morning, the source of energy for all living things, but he also consumed the sun each night, symbolizing its death. The dirt was a bleak repository for the dead, but the rotting flesh and dry bone within it generated a fertile humus that nourished new life.
Chalchiuhtlicue, the goddess of lakes and rivers, Chicomecoatl, the maize goddess, Mayahuel, the maguey goddess, and Huixtocihuatl, the goddess of salt, provided the necessities of ordinary life. Commoners, such as fishermen, farmers, and salt producers, held these deities in high regard.
Commoners also worshipped Teteo innan/Toci, the goddess of healing, who gathered herbal cures from the fields and forests. Healers, midwives, and diviners were all patronized by her. Weavers, embroiderers, silversmiths, and sculptors were patronized by Xochiquetzal, the goddess of sensuality, feasting, excellent craftsmanship, and sexual pleasure (Figure 11). These goddesses contrast with Huitzilopochtli, Tlaloc, Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, and Xipe Totec, who were the emphasis of state religion.
Women in Aztecs culture worshipped both gods and goddesses. Women ensured that suitable offerings to gods and goddesses were made at the household altar by encouraging their sons and daughters to rise early, offer the gods food and incense at household altars, and sweep the house, a ritual act of purification. Small clay figurines found in Aztec homes may have served as god figures on domestic altars, according to archaeologists.
Temples were staffed by both male and female priests, following the notion of gender complementarity. Parents dedicated some young girls to serve in temples while they were young. When these young ladies grew up, they went into religious service. Most women only stayed for a year or two before marrying, although a few remained priestesses for the rest of their lives. These older priestesses were in charge of supervising the newer priestesses. The religious deeds of Aztec women, then, honored the gods and contributed to maintain cosmic order at home altars and in state temples.
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The Aztec Women Maya
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