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5 - Sex and the Altepetl

Gender, Sexuality, and Aztec Family Values

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2024

Susan Kellogg
Affiliation:
University of Houston
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Summary

Women and men contributed substance and socialization to bringing children into being and raising them into their eventual Aztec adult roles. Young men experienced a wider range of sexual activity than did young women, but flexibility in gender roles existed. Aztecs raised their children to work hard and create value, obey the rules for proper behavior, and practice moderation in all areas of family and social life. For both children and adults, transgressions in interpersonal relations, work, or spirituality had harsh repercussions. After having been dedicated to either the calmecac or telpochcalli as infants, all boys and many girls would begin their training to contribute to the war-making capacity, political organization, or ritual life of the altepetl. Marriage was an important stage in the life cycle. This new partnership represented the gender complementarity embedded in family life, expressing the gendered aspect of balance found in daily life across the Aztec world. Respected, even revered, Aztecs, nevertheless, also saw the elderly as decrepit and childlike as they approached death. Despite tensions that could exist among family members, the complementary partnership that marriage represented provided a foundation upon which Aztec ways of living survived, however transformed, after the Spanish arrived.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Sex and the Altepetl
  • Susan Kellogg, University of Houston
  • Book: A Concise History of the Aztecs
  • Online publication: 08 February 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108614542.007
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  • Sex and the Altepetl
  • Susan Kellogg, University of Houston
  • Book: A Concise History of the Aztecs
  • Online publication: 08 February 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108614542.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Sex and the Altepetl
  • Susan Kellogg, University of Houston
  • Book: A Concise History of the Aztecs
  • Online publication: 08 February 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108614542.007
Available formats
×