Fighting with Femininity

Gender and War in Aztec Mexico

Resumen

According to a historical manuseript written around 1580 by the Dominican friar Diego Durán, a fifteenth century ruler of Tlatelolco had ernployed a memorable strategy after being vigorously attacked by Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital now buried beneath Mexico City. The Tlatelolcan king responded to his desperate circumstances by ordering some women and small boys to strip naked and attack the invaders. While the little boys threw burning sticks, the wornen approached with their private parts "shamefully" exposed, some slapping their bellies and genitals, others squeezing their breasts and scattering milk on their enemies. Another version of the same event adds that the naked women had their heads gaudily feathered and their lips painted red, the color of harlots.