Gender Roles In The Aztecs Essay

The ancient Aztecs, who most likely originated as a nomadic tribe in northern Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica at approximately the beginning of the 13th century. For a long time, the nomads wandered the land of Mexica, countlessly resettling into new areas in a constant search for land that was fertile and that they could call their own. Before the founding of their capital city of Tenochtitlan in 1325, the Aztecs had to work for various cities and small empires that were more powerful than them in order to gain military experience and come out as the dominant force in central Mexico. Through developing an intricate social, political, religious and commercial organization, it was by the 15th century that the empire brought many of the region’s city-states under their control.

The purpose of this poster is to visually represent how the Aztecs used power to

This was a part of a ritual called Izcalli which took place every four years and involved a purification ceremony for children. The image on the bottom shows an older boy learning to fish, and the girl weaving spun thread on a back-strap loom—both tasks that would require a child to reach a certain size and strength. Image nine ultimately implies the significance of gender roles within ancient Aztec society, for males were treated more harshly compared to females and were expected to take part in more difficult tasks such as hunting, fishing and participating in warfare. Females were bound to domestic work such as cooking, cleaning and weaving. This source corroborates with sources six, seven and eleven from my research booklet as they all explore the topic of ancient Aztec social structure and how it influenced the Aztec empire. The image assists me in proving my hypothesis as it answers yes to my third focus question, in that there was indeed a social structure that determined the way the Aztecs lived their day to day