Gender and Sexuality 2nd Blog Entry

This week was an interesting introduction into the course. The Andes is a very interesting place wit ha diverse ecosystem and a wide array of animals and plants. It’s no surprise then that the environment had such a huge impact on the people who lived there. The shape of the land encouraged a kinship between different peoples in order to gain access to the food in the separate zones. What interests me the most is how the Inca Empire rose out of this area and then extended as far as it did along the Andes. This huge society was made up of millions of people which a specific set of rules that kept them all in line. Everything was strict and kept in check including food, living, roles of people and all of this was different for males and females. The reading under the Guaman Poma de Ayala went into detail on this, explained how punishment was given for certain offenses and how whoreish woman were dealt with. Men and woman were categorized in 9 different groups by age and each group was expected to do something specific until a certain age. Men generally ended up serving in the military around age 20 and women stayed and took care of children and weaved and made things. Crossing many of the rules set in place by the Incas was normally punished by death or something equal to what was committed. They even had a set of rules for the mentally or physically handicapped and these people often lived in the same area together but were still given tasked based on their disability.

After reading this article I came to realize just how advanced this civilization was compared to those around them. Technologically they were behind the Europeans during this time but as a society and culture they were quite advanced. Especially with the vast size of their empire to be able to control that many people and do it for so long takes a lot of work and time. I often wonder, as I’m sure historians in this field also think about, what would have happened if the Spanish had not arrived and dismantled this society how would it have turned out centuries later. Would there be a huge power in South America like there is in North America or Europe and Asia and also what records could have been recovered or found had the Spanish not destroyed a great deal of it. Of course we’ll never really know the answers to many things but it still makes one wonder just how much was wasted from many similar invasions like this.