The Secret History of Gender: Women, Men, and Power in Late Colonial Mexico [Paperback]

Steve J. Stern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 26, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0807846430 | ISBN-13: 978-0807846438

In this study of gender relations in late colonial Mexico (ca. 1760-1821), Steve Stern analyzes the historical connections between gender, power, and politics in the lives of peasants, Indians, and other marginalized peoples. Through vignettes of everyday life, he challenges assumptions about gender relations and political culture in a patriarchal society. He also reflects on continuity and change between late colonial times and the present and suggests a paradigm for understanding similar struggles over gender rights in Old Regime societies in Europe and the Americas.

Stern pursues three major arguments. First, he demonstrates that non-elite women and men developed contending models of legitimate gender authority and that these differences sparked bitter struggles over gender right and obligation. Second, he reveals connections, in language and social dynamics, between disputes over legitimate authority in domestic and familial matters and disputes in the arenas of community and state power. The result is a fresh interpretation of the gendered dynamics of peasant politics, community, and riot. Third, Stern examines regional and ethnocultural variation and finds that his analysis transcends particular locales and ethnic subgroupings within Mexico. The historical arguments and conceptual sweep of Stern's book will inform not only students of Mexico and Latin America but also students of gender in the West and other world regions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A remarkable work, theorizing patriarchy as ever-changing rather than static.

Canadians Journal of Latin American/Caribbean Studies

One of the most significant contributions to Latin American and women's history published in the past two decades.

Western Historical Quarterly

This is a complex book well worth reading, and Stern provides important insights that scholars may debate for some time.

Journal of Social History

An elegant and convincing analysis of gender relations.

Colonial Latin American Historical Review

This is a theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich study of gender and popular political culture in colonial Mexico.

American Historical Review

About the Author

Steve J. Stern, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is author of numerous books and articles on Latin American history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (February 26, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807846430
• ISBN-13: 978-0807846438
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,211,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing research--a MUST-READ for gender scholars and scholars who hate 'gender', March 13, 2006

By 

Kyris (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret History of Gender: Women, Men, and Power in Late Colonial Mexico (Paperback)

For those who love 'gender' as a lens through which to analyze other social processes (warfare, citizenship, empire- or nation- formation, etc.) this may not be the book for you: this is an actual analysis of Gender itself. The author looks at the relations between men and women in peasant communities in Mexico, using concrete examples of real families that went through the justice system. But not just husbands-wives--he addresses daughters-parents (mother/father), sisters-brothers, AND fathers-sons, brothers-brothers... Priests-parishioners... he really looks at patriarchy as a system that organized society NOT as static and merely oppressive, but dynamic and unstable. And he looks at how patriarchy not only organized men-women relations, but relations between the rich and poor AND politics and power, in the most convincing way I have read so far. It's GREAT in that regard--but getting through the INSANELY NUMEROUS examples and statistics gets pretty tiresome...