Honor: a matter of gender

Abstract

In the Spanish American colonial world, honor was considered the most important symbolic capital a family could show, its character closely related to reputation. The code of honor prescribed different behavior patterns according to gender; in the case of women, its principal content was particularly linked with sexual morality.

In this article we will analyze a group of trials for insult and slander that took place in the River Plate area during the late colonial period (1750-1810). On the basis of these judicial sources, the focus of our analysis will be the participation of women in this kind of conflicts both as victims and defendants; the different reactions or strategies used to confront the threat of dishonor; and the ideal patterns of behavior the code of honor prescribed according to gender.