RACE AND GENDER

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RACE AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION

• NOT ALL PARTS OF LATIN AMERICA HAVE THE SAME
  RACIAL AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION
• NOT ALL PARTS OF LATIN AMERICA DEFINE RACE AND
  ETHNICITY IN THE SAME WAY
• RACE CAN THEREFORE BE SEEN AS A SOCIAL
  CONSTRUCTIONHOW DO WE MAP AND PERCEIVE RACE?
• DEPENDS ON THE PRESENCE OF LARGE NUMBERS OF
  INDIGENOUS
• IMPACT OF AFRICAN SLAVERY

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GENDER AND RACE

• VISIONS OF A MASCULINE LATIN AMERICA
• SPANISH MEN AND INDIAN WOMEN
• TRIBUTE WORK AS A MALE ENTERPRISE
• AFRICAN SLAVERY AS A MALE AFRICAN EXPERIENCE
• SLAVE LABOR AS A MASCULINE ENDEAVOR

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INDIAN WOMEN

• NOBLES
• Noble Indian women held encomiendaslargest 9,500
  people-compared to the largest encomienda of a
  Spanish woman 15,240
• In Mexico some allowed to enter convents, but
  overtaken by Spanish women
• COMMONERS
• Involvement in tribute payments, encomienda labor
• Offsprings status defined by FATHER, not mother
• Technically free

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AFRICAN AND AFRO-LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN

• SLAVES
• ROLE IN PLANTATION LABOR
• USED AS SEXUAL OBJECTS
• SIGNIFICANCE IN DEBATES ABOUT THE HARSHNESS OF
  SLAVERY
• TRANSMITTED CONDITION OF SLAVERY TO CHILDREN
• FREED
• ALWAYS UNDER THE THREAT OF REENSLAVEMENT
• EMPLOYMENTWET NURSES, MAIDS, LAUNDRESSES, SEWING

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VISIONS OF A SEXUALIZED FEMALE LATIN AMERICA

• INDIGENOUS AND AFRICAN WOMEN SEEN AS FAIR GAME
  FOR SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE MEN
• WHITE WOMEN AS PROCREATORS OF THE ELITE
• INDIGENOUS MEN IGNORED AS NON-SEXUALIZED OTHER
• GREAT FEARS OF AFRICAN MALES AS SEXUAL
  COMPETITION FOR SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE

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CREATING NEW VISIONS OF GENDER

• HOW DO YOU RECONSTRUCT A MORE ACCURATE PORTRAIT
  OF NON-WHITE WOMEN?
• DEMOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS
• GENDER DIVISION OF LABOR
• WOMEN AND SOCIAL STATUS
• IMPACT OF IDEOLOGIES AND CULTURES

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COMPARATIVE DEMOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS

• POPULATION CHANGES OVER TIME
• SEX RATIO OF NEW BORN ALWAYS SLIGHTLY MORE THAN
  MALE
• ETHNIC AND RACIAL DEMOGRAPHICS ARE PART OF A
  LARGER SOCIO-ECONOMIC PORTRAIT OF A REGION
• DEMOGRAPHIC ESTIMATES ARE ALWAYS APPROXIMATIONS
• MIGRATION ALWAYS AFFECTS DEMOGRAPHIC REALITIES AS
  DOES UNDER AND OVER COUNTING

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PATTERNS OF FEMALE LIFE EXPECTATIONS