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Fugas

No. 17 (2026): Inflexiones

Female representations and social and gender inequality in Preclassic Mesoamerica

DOI
https://doi.org/10.22201/udir.2954341xp.2026.288
Submitted
March 2, 2026
Published
2026-03-09

Abstract

This work examines female representations and their relationship with the practices of social reproduction and the social conditions in which they emerged, during the Early and Middle Preclassic periods. Throughout this time, various regions of Mesoamerica experienced population growth as well as an expansion in economic, social, symbolic, and knowledge-based resources. Access to these different types of resources was constrained by social positions within hierarchical and unequal organizations. This analysis draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice to interpret female representations recovered from different archaeological excavations. These representations are compared with one another, with their contexts, and with other associated objects. The study finds that the increasing presence of female clay figurines is related to the promotion of the female body as a resource for social positioning, particularly in the strategies and alliance practices of emerging groups that emulated those with greater access to resources—thereby reproducing and legitimizing social and gender inequality. It is concluded that female representations functioned as objects of distinction in the struggle for existing resources and for the social organization of that historical moment.

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