Gender and the Negotiation of Daily Life in Mexico, 1750-1856 by Sonya Lipsett-Rivera (review)

Sonya Lipsett-Rivera has written a remarkably readable and thought-provoking book that peels back the layers of the Mexican mind to reveal the intricate system of social values and mores that dominated Mexican society. Focusing largely on Mexico City and Puebla de los Angeles, Lipsett-Rivera examines numerous court cases, ecclesiastical divorce proceedings, and etiquette manuals through which she attempts to tell an intriguing story about the gendered, moral, and hierarchical nature of space and the body. To that end, Lipsett-Rivera blends a top-down and bottom-up approach, juxtaposing etiquette manuals, through which she seeks to understand the intellectual and moral structures of elite behavior, with the “nitty-gritty of daily life on the streets” (5). Elite ideals, she argues, often filtered down to the lower classes while lower class practices simultaneously made their way up the social ladder, influencing elite culture. This ideological fluidity emerged out of a society where both groups lived in close proximity to one another. In a world imbued with rules and rituals, all Mexicans regardless of class and gender were expected to understand and take part in this daily negotiation for power. Throughout the book violence done by and against women emerges as a unifying theme. Violence, the author suggests, can grant us an important glimpse into how Mexicans understood and defended their honor against internal and external threats. “Mexicans,” for instance, “hit others they believed were challenging their role in the household or their social position” in order to restore their lost honor (208). Unfortunately, because violence was not the norm, it highlights only a sliver of colonial behavior, something the author fully acknowledges. Lipsett-Rivera confines her study to the years 1750-1586, known by historians as the middle-period, chiefly because of the availability of sources. The choice to use this time frame is an important feature of the book because it reflects an awareness that cultural ideals do not neatly end with the termination of political regimes. The book is divided evenly among two topics, space and body, with three chapters given to each topic.

The first half of the book addresses the concept of space. From the arrangement of furnishings in the home to the spatial layout of the street and beyond, space was imbued with a complex hierarchy of meaning. Determining this meaning was contingent on a host of factors. For example, a particular space such as a market place could change in moral significance from day to night, i.e., within a matter of hours. The dichotomy between the home (read: feminine, moral, safe, and ordered) and the street (read: masculine, immoral, dangerous, and disordered) reveals the gendered quality of daily life. Honor and morality were also key concerns for middle period Mexicans. The vertical or horizontal design of the home, the spatial arrangement of the furniture, windows, and stairs all reflected the hierarchy, status, and honor of the family. The manner in which these spaces were navigated required a careful reading and understanding of the social values inherent in colonial society.

Mexicans defended their morality by defending their homes. Because the home was gendered, when women left the home their honor and morality was immediately questioned. Going to the market could become a socially damaging proposition. Stemming from an analysis of the home and its relation to honor and morality, Lipsett-Rivera discusses the special importance of the door. She notes that important decisions were made everyday about whether the door should be opened or closed. Contingent on time of day, a closed or open door told an important story about the sexual and moral reputation of the family. The vandalization of the household door thus represented a stain on the honor of the family, which could only be redressed through violence. Yet, while a closed door conveyed a message of morality...