The history of women in colonial Spanish America is still in the process of being written, and thus contains many lacunae and raises many questions which have not yet been answered. Much of what we know so far about colonial women reflects the life of the upper echelons of society. However, enough research has been carried out to point to significant similarities and differences in life-styles, attitudes, motivations and aims among colonial women of all walks of life. Women's history in the colonial period cannot be measured by events or developments of a political character — the marks of distinction of a man-orientated world. Women were not personally or institutionally encouraged to assert themselves through actions that were in any way political; yet it cannot be said that their role was totally passive or marginal. They must be approached through the specific institutions of which they formed an intrinsic part, forms of collective behaviour, the manners and mores of classes or groups. Change was slow and not deliberate. Certain traditions were preserved at the personal level by unfailing observance; others by legal means. Thus, continuities are more apparent than changes.

Among the most significant topics to be examined in this chapter are: (1) the first movement of Spanish women to the newly discovered lands, which, although not long-lasting, helped to shape the cultural transfer and to form the biological nucleus of a social elite; (2) marriage, as the basis for the formation of families and kinship; (3) the legal status of women and the ways it helped to define their behaviour and opportunities within society; (4) the social mores surrounding male—female relationships; (5) forms of social deviance and their punishment; (6) education as it applied to different groups; and (7) conventual life, of special significance during the colonial period.