Title: The secret history of gender
First published: 1995
Description: 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, including the routine conflicts and violence that resulted from cultural arguments over gender right, 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.

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. Stern's interpretation both undermines and transcends previous perceptions of a single Latin American gender culture, including the notions of male rage and female complicity.
Subjects: Sex role, Rural women, Social conditions, Peasantry, History, Power (Social sciences), Estratificacao social, Poder (Ciencias sociales), Condiciones sociales, Peasants, Conditions sociales, Mujeres en areas rurales, Alltag, Vrouwen, Sekseverschillen, Role selon le sexe, Gender Identity, Geschlechterverhaltnis, Femmes en milieu rural, Koloniale periode, SOCIAL SCIENCE, Trabalho rural, Histoire, Trabalho da mulher (direito do trabalho), Historia, Gender Studies, Paysannerie, Pouvoir (Sciences sociales), Campesinos, Mexico, social conditions, Peasants, mexico
Places: Mexico
LC classification: HQ1075.5.M6 S74 1995