Women in the Aztec world were expected to be hardworking, clean, and do whatever was necessary to run the household. Some, however, took on jobs outside the home, serving as priestesses, doctors, and vendors in the markets.
Most practical training for girls from the commoner class, the macehualli, took place at home. The first lessons dealt with cloth. At 4 years old, girls began to learn how to spin thread. By 14, they were
Aztec clothing was often brilliantly dyed with colors taken from nature.
Learning how to weave. During their lives, women would be responsible for spinning yarn, weaving and dying cloth, and for making, washing, and repairing clothes. Cloth was not only used for clothing, but also to pay tribute. Any extra cloth produced was a form of wealth that could be traded for other household goods. A daughter who could weave fine cloth was worth much to her family.
Girls also needed to learn their manners and obey their elders. Young girls did not disagree with their elders or complain about work. A girl’s moral outlook on life was important. No man wanted to marry a woman who was not kind, obedient, honest, respectful, and skilled in making a home.
Once a girl reached 12 or 13 years old, she could easily run a household. Girls of this age knew how to grind corn into dough, form it into tortillas, and cook meals. They could weave, dye, and sew cloth into clothing. They knew how to clean the home, care for children, and shop in the market.
Between 12 and 15, girls joined boys at the neighborhood cuicacalli (“house of song”). At this school, they learned to dance, sing, and play musical instruments. These talents were important for family gatherings and religious events. By learning these skills, the students also learned more about their culture and what was expected of them when they became adults.
Fancy Footwear
Many Aztecs went barefoot much of the time. Sandals were the only type of shoes worn. Cactli were sandals with fiber or leather soles, a woven upper portion, and laces that wrapped around the ankle and calf to keep the shoes in place.
The sandals Aztec nobles wore for everyday wear were huaraches, much like those found in shoe stores today. the soles were single pieces of leather, with woven strips of leather on top. Nobles added decorations of precious metals or stones, or the skins of wild animals, such as jaguars. Some added bright feathers to their footgear.
Girls of the noble class, the pipilti, also needed to know how to clean, weave, and cook. They also learned singing, dancing, and music. One option open to a noble’s daughter that was not open to common girls was becoming a priestess.
Once a woman of the macehualli class was married, her life took on a certain routine. Women rose at sunrise or before and went to bed at sunset. Early in the morning, they built a fire in the hearth. The first meal was corn porridge, and it was eaten every day. Women spent their mornings doing the tasks they learned as girls: washing, cleaning, childcare, cooking, and making cloth or clothing.
The Aztecs ate three meals a day, so cooking and cleaning took up many hours. The biggest meal was at noon, followed by more work and a light supper. Women who lived on a farm might work both in the home and in the fields—a double load, because men did not work around the house.
Noble women had less work to do. A woman with a wealthy or powerful husband usually had servants to do the housework and the cooking. She was ultimately responsible for her home, though, and supervised the work of her servants. Such a woman might spend her afternoons visiting with other wealthy women.
The wife or daughter of a merchant might be expected to help sell goods in the marketplace. Some women were professional marketers;
Others just sold the extra products of their households. Women who were expert weavers or dyers might also have a chance to sell their work and earn extra money.
One other professional option for a woman was the job of a midwife. Midwives helped women give birth. Many also learned how to be healers. They learned which herbs could be used to cure sickness, how to set broken bones, and how to stitch wounds.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Advice for Girls
Huehuetlatolli can be translated as "sayings of the elders." it is a collection of advice that represents the Aztecs' ideals, and includes speeches and sayings for every occasion. The Huehuetlatolli were collected and written down by Juan Bautista (ca. 15351590), a priest and historian. Bautista was a great-grandson of Nezahualcoyotl and was Spanish on his father's side.
Here is a section that offers advice for girls.
Don't be careless, don't be negligent, don't fall behind, you who are my jewel, you who are my quetzal feather. . . . Attend carefully to the water and the grinding stone. And take hold of and lift up the sauce bowl and the basket. Lay them and carry them in front of people, next to people. Don't throw them down and break them, don't lay them down recklessly. You're to lay them down carefully and calmly. And you're not to go around like a crazy person, you're not to go around panting and laughing, you're not to go looking up ahead and from side to side, you're not to go looking all around at people, you're not to look people in the face. You're just to go straight ahead,
You're just to look straight ahead, when you go in front of people or pass people or meet people, so that you will acquire honor and respect there, so that no one will bother you, nor will you bother anyone else, and so that hospitality and respect will exist in moderation. And sing well, speak well, address people well, answer people well, make requests well. Speech is not something to be bought and sold. . . .
And lower your head, bow down before other people, beside other people. Show respect and deference to others. Don't offend them. Go about calmly and tranquilly. Show people love, ask them for things, be kind to them, give them a little something. Don't give people nasty looks, don't be greedy. . . .
And don't torment anyone, don't do harm to anyone, don't make fun of anyone, for then it is you who'll be tormented. And don't devote yourself to or divert yourself with wickedness. . . .
(Source: Bautista, Juan. Huehuetlatolli.
Translated by Louise M. Burkhart. Personal correspondence, September 25, 2008. From Mexico: M. Ocharte (printer), 1600.)
Tying the Knot
In the United States and other English-speaking lands, people sometimes say that when two people marry, they "tie the knot." In an Aztec wedding ceremony, people did not say this, but they did act it out. Part of the bride's blouse and the groom's cloak were tied together, showing they were now joined as husband and wife.
Keeping Them Close
The Aztecs believed that if young girls ate while they were standing up, they would end up marrying someone who took them far from their home. Since most parents wanted their daughters close by, they always made sure the girls ate sitting down.
World History
