wOMEN & LEADERSHIP in the Ancient Mayan Civilization
The Menstrual Cycle
Mayan women on their menstrual cycle. They believed that it was a punishment for the moon goddess. When, the woman was menstruating and was upset her blood will turn into snakes or insects before the moon goodness can be reborn. That is why when a women on their periods they would be exiled so nothing like that will happen. Another taboo in their religion was that if you looked directly at an eclipse the person would either be cursed by the sun or the moon. The person who looked directly would have a year of hardship or bad luck. Leadership The Mayan women were said to have had an active role in society before the Spanish invaded. The Spanish did not want any female leaders. Mayan women would tend to their husbands and children. They were in charge of the textile production. That is the making of the fabric to make clothes. The Mayan women would also take care of the live stock and create flour out of smashing corn. However, women in the upper caste system did have political roles. Childbirth When a Mayan women would go into labor, the husband, her mother and father and the in-laws would be present. The midwife would arrive and they would have a ceremony. If, the childbirth was difficult, the father would tell the daughter all the bad she had done in her life. After, the baby was born they would have a party with traditional food. Every two days after the birth of the child, the midwife would take the women into a sauna and massage there uterus to get it to its original position. "Maya Religion : Taboos In Mayan Religion." Maya Religion : Taboos In Mayan Religion. Accessed February 7, 2015. http://themayareligionproject.blogspot.com/2013/09/taboos-in-mayan-religion.html.
"Research Re-examines Role of Maya Women." UCR Today. Accessed February 7, 2015. http://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/3632. "The Maya Culture |." RSS. Accessed February 7, 2015. http://mayacolor.com/?page_id=569. |