Sexuality and marriage in colonial Latin America /

366 Pages·38.425 MB·English

by  edited by Asunción Lavrin.

&
Sexuality Marriage
in Colonial Latin America
Editedby Asuncion Lavrin

Latin American Studies Series
SeriesEditorsMichaelC.Meyer JohnD. Martz MiguelLeon-Portilla

Sexuality and Marriage in
Colonial Latin America
Edited by Asuncion Lavrin
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln and London
— ——
,
"DivorceinColonialBrazil: The
CaseofSaoPaulo"has
previouslybeenpublished, in
differentform, aschapter8in
Sistema decasamentonoBrasil
colonial byMariaBeatrizNizza
daSilva(SaoPaulo: T.A.
Queiroz/EDUSP, 1984): 210-43,
andisusedbypermissionof
T.A.Queiroz.
Copyright © 1989 by
theUniversityofNebraskaPress
Allrightsreserved
ManufacturedintheUnited
StatesofAmerica
Thepaperinthisbookmeetsthe
minimumrequirementsof
AmericanNationalStandardfor
Information Sciences
PermanenceofPaperforPrinted
LibraryMaterials,
ANSIZ39.48-1984.
LibraryofCongressCataloging
inPublicationData
Sexualityandmarriagein
colonialLatinAmerica.
Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
—
1. Marriage LatinAmerica
History. 2. Sexcustoms
—
LatinAmerica History.
— —
3. LatinAmerica History To
1830. I. Lavrin,Asuncion.
HQ560.5.S48 1989
306.8T098 88-33980
ISBN0-8032-2885-6(alk.paper)
,
Contents
Preface, vii RUTH BEHAR
ListofAbbreviations, ix Sexual Witchcraft,
Colonialism, andWomen's
ASUNCIONLAVRIN
Powers: Viewsfrom the
Introduction: The Scenario,
MexicanInquisition, 178
theActors, andtheIssues, 1
Marriage
Sexuality
SUSANM. SOCOLOW
ASUNCIONLAVRIN
Acceptable Partners: Marriage
Sexuality in Colonial
Mexico: AChurch Choicein ColonialArgentina,
1778-1810,209
Dilemma, 47
RICHARD BOYER
SERGE GRUZINSKI
Women, LaMala Vida and the
IndividualizationandAc-
PoliticsofMarriage, 252
culturation: Confession
amongtheNahuasofMexi- THOMAS CALVO
cofromthe Sixteenthtothe TheWarmth oftheHearth:
EighteenthCentury, 96 Seventeenth-Century
GuadalajaraFamilies, 287
ANNTWINAM
Honor, Sexuality, and MARIABEATRIZ NIZZADASILVA
Illegitimacyin Colonial Divorcein ColonialBrazil: The
SpanishAmerica, 118 CaseofSaoPaulo, 313
KATHYWALDRON ListofContributors,341
The SinnersandtheBishop Index, 343
inColonialVenezuela: The
Visita ofBishopMariano
Marti, 1771-1784, 156
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2015
in
https://archive.org/details/sexualitymarriagOOIavr
Preface
In June 1984 Dick Boyer, Ann Twinam, and I decided to gather the
three papers we had just delivered at the Berkshire Conference on
Women's Historyandattempt toputabooktogetheron the subject
ofsexualityandmarriagein colonialLatinAmerica. Itookoverthe
steering role. Searching for contributions took almost two more
years; despiteitsintrinsicinterest, thetopichadnotbeenstudiedin
depthbymanyhistorians. Ibelievethat theeffortsspentinlocating
the contributors to this book have been amply rewarded. We have
now a set ofcarefullyresearched and thought-provokingstudies on
the interaction of the genders in the colonial period. The process
thatboundmenandwomeninpersonalrelationshipsbeforethefor-
mation of the family, and the social and religious mechanisms that
attemptedtoregulatethem, areexaminedherefromavarietyofan-
gles, revealing the intensely human nature of the subject. This is a
book about men and women, their loves and hatreds, their inhibi-
tions, theirprejudices, theirfearsandtheirjoys in theprocess ofre-
latingtoeachother.Ihopethatthereaderwillfindmuchherethatis
new but also much that strikes a cord of familiarity with our own
contemporaryworld. I also trust that the publication of this collec-
tion will serve as an incentive to other historians to explore the
manynuances andchallengingcomplexitiesofthesubject.
All of us are indebted to many people and institutions for their
supportandencouragement, andtheyhavebeenrememberedinthe
acknowledgmentsforeachpaper. Here Iwish toexpress myspecial
gratitude to William L. Sherman and Silvia Arrom for their critical
comments.ThestaffofTheHispanicDivisionoftheLibraryofCon-
gress and the Handbook ofLatin American Studies deserve a very
special mention. Theyhave gone beyond beingcooperative and pa-