Discuss the role of the female in both Aztec and Spanish culture. You may make connections to the text, to what you know from history, or from today's society. How is Hummingbird a non-conventional female? Could she be considered a feminist? Why or why not?
In both the Spanish and Aztec culture women aren't very important but do play a role in the culture. Aztec women are just concubines to the Aztec men just use them to bear children to them. They are kind of oppressed because when Tetla found out Hummingbird wasn't a virgin he beat her and almost killed her because women weren't supposed to have sex until they were married and it was the same thing for the Spanish. In a way they were kind of important because the king, Moctezuma , had a court present when he went to greet the invaders(the Spaniards) and his court included women, plus the translator for the Spanish was a women, Malinche. Hummingbird though is very different because she has a transparent personality and doesn't care what she has done in life because she's very proud of it and her culture. I would consider her a feminist because she also does very broad things that men would do that women wouldn't , which leads me to believe she has courage,which many women lack.
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Jason Zepeda
9/26/2013 01:03:13 am
If people of the past were to see the world as it is now, they'd be in for a shock. These days, women have more freedom and higher positions than they ever had before. It's a bummer that in other places some women are still being used by men as sex slaves or furniture to show off, but it's still a huge jump to how things were back then. I mean, think about it. A woman ran for President! And I'm pretty sure there are female rulers out there. It shocked me that in Aztec culture, the man has the right to kill his concubine or wife if she is not a virgin. It shocked me more that it went the same way for Spaniard culture. Why have woman been so undermined? No wonder women are considered weak, because that's how men made them! There are strong women, like Hummingbird. She speaks her mind and has been through so much... I think I would have a nervous breakdown if America were to be conquered.
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Anahi Ramon
9/26/2013 09:40:38 am
When I read the story Song of the Hummingbird it was about and how the women are not treated with respect and now a days we have more freedom than before and have much more rights. I was shocked that a man has the right to kill his concubine or how we call it wife if she is not virgin. this is what they did to Hummingbird because she was not virgin of what happened to her when she was a kid. When she was a kid she had relationships with her cousin near the river. I was also shocked that they did the same thing to the Spaniard culture because they just used women for sex slaves. I hate it that they consider us women weak and unconsidered and don't have the right tot do anything. But us women are strong to because now we are actually smarter than men. I think that Hummingbird is a strong women who is not shy and speaks directly.
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Yesenia Garcia
9/26/2013 10:41:38 am
In the novel, Song of the Hummingbird by Graciela Limon explains the role of women in both Aztec and Spaniards culture. In the Aztec women were suppose to get to marriage being a virgin. It was very important that a women was virgin or else they would get killed. Many women were concubines meaning that they were obligated to "marry" a man that was already marry just to fornicate with him, these women are considered sex slaves. When Hummingbird tell Father Benito that Telta had beat her fro not being a virgin Father Benito said that in his country they would have done the same thing so their cultures in women are not really different. Hummingbird is a really strong and brave women. She says everything that is in her mind without thinking about and does not regret her sins.
In this novel it discusses the role of the female in both Spanish and Aztec culture. In the Aztec culture women need to be a virgin because that was one tradition that they have n also in the Spanish culture; if the woman was not a virgin in both cultures the man had the right to kill her. Also, women in the Aztec were used just to have children and the men can get married with different women no matter what. In fact when Moctezuma had a court to greet the Spainiards, and in that court women were there with them. The Spainiards had a woman, Malinche, that translated for them. Huitzitziln is considered a feminists because she is not afraid to speak her mind. Also, she is really brave and she doesn't care what people think of her.
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Oscar Torres-Soria
9/26/2013 11:39:17 am
The woman in both Spanish and Aztec cultures plays a role in society that is tragic. In both cultures, the woman are oppressed. In the minds of men, woman are meant to serve the man and to make offspring. The woman had lived like this for a very long time period. In the novel, Huitzitzilin was treated like this by Tetla during their wedding day. Tetla examined Huitzitzilin to see if she was a virgin. When he saw that she wasn't, Tetla beat her for the reason that she wasn't a virgin. In the novel, Huitzitzilin is a feminist because she is not afraid to speak her thought outloud, she also doesn't care what people think or say about her.
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Christian Marquez
9/26/2013 11:40:29 am
In both the Spaniard and the Aztec culture women are discriminated against. According to the book, women are just there to work for the man, raise children, and to have sex with the husband. The women do not have the rights of a man and unfortunately they live a life shame. Unlike a typical woman, Hummingbird was not a virgin before she was married and she speaks her mind. In my opinion Hummingbird is a feminist because she wants for women to stand up for themselves and fight the oppression.
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Bryan Amaro
9/26/2013 11:45:29 am
Women's role in both the Aztec and the Spanish cultures were not great at all for them. Women were not fully treated with respect back then. In Hummingbird's story about marrige, it is important for women to stay a virgin until they are married. At first, I thought it was important to stay as a virgin because it would be a sin if you are not a virgin before marrige. But I was shoked about what happened to Hummingbird on the day of her marrige. When her husband, Tetla, found out that Hummingbird was not a virgin, he had beaten Hummingbird to the point where Hummingbird wanted death. I was more shoked about the fact that the husband could beaten or even kill the concubine, or wife, if the concubine is not a virgin. For the Spaniards, it was the same situation as the Aztec culture, so there was not much of a difference. But, even though women back then were not treated equally as men, they can still be strong and courages, just like Hummingbird. I would still consider Hummingbird feminest because she had sex with a male, since women would do so normally. Yet she is courages and bold, never afraid to speak the truth and is never embarrassed to do so.
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Ashley Guerrero
9/26/2013 12:27:37 pm
In both Spanish and Aztec culture we see oppression in women. In the Aztec culture women are forced to marry, some at a young age. In Spanish culture women are suppose to be with one partner. Both cultures however look down upon women that aren't virgins. Hummingbird several ways has shown her dislike in the oppression of women. At one point in the story she explained how she agreed on a woman's actions, the woman had ran away from something her culture wanted her to do. Hummingbird also speaks her mind in her culture it was wrong for a woman to speak out their minds. I believe that Hummingbird would be considered a feminist because she is outspoken and clearly disagrees with woman oppression.
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Victor Esteban
9/26/2013 01:04:41 pm
In the novel , of Song of the Hummingbird we can see both cultures of the Aztec and the Spanish. In some way they both have similar treatment against a female that is not virgin at marriage. They both hurt them unfairly as well as some even kill them. Even though now these days its something cruel in the sociality , back then it wasn’t . It was actually seen as something good. This was done for the women can learn a lesson. Hummingbird was a victim of these tragic tradition and explains it to Father Benito. However she explains it in a different way , in way that it seems that it didn’t happen to her. And in my opinion I don’t think hummingbird is consider a feminist. The reason I think that is because she only explains how women are treated and dose not show any hate against all men.
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Marisol Jimenez
9/26/2013 01:10:20 pm
In the novel, Song of the Hummingbird we see the author Graciela Limon explains the role of a female in both Spanish and Aztec culture.In the Aztec culture women were supposed to get marry and in a young age.When the women marry's the guy she supposed to be virgin or she could die.The women don't really have powered because the guys take control over the women.In the Spanish culture women have some rights and freedom now.The women could now marry who ever she wants.In my opinion I considered her a femenist because she is outgoing, she speaks her mind and because she disagrees of women oppression.Through out the whole story she has disagreed with the rights of women been violated.
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Jocelyne Ramirez
9/26/2013 01:19:50 pm
From what I've read so far in the novel The Song of the Hummingbird, is that there aren't many differences in the treatment of woman both in the book and the real world. In the story, or Huitzitzilin's heritage a woman was expected to be a virgin still when she got married, and their main role was to be there for the man and provide them children; these traditions despite being miles away is also the way the Spanish treated their woman. In the book they treat woman very unjust, and take advantage of them, and if these women were to go against their roles, like Huitzitzilin who fornicated before she got married, they get brutally beaten and in some cases ordered to get killed by their husbands. So far, I've noticed that this is a part in Hutizitilin's society that she isn't proud of, because she is a fierce woman who like any other woman would have wanted to be treated equality, like those of a man. Even thought the attack on the Aztecs was a few years back, our society has more or less provided woman a great chance in society, we aren't fully there yet, and still in many countries these unfortunate rearranged marriages happen. In our society I might admit we aren't fully there yet on the aspect to treat woman like men yet, but hopefully it will change.
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Brian Vidal
9/26/2013 01:27:35 pm
After reading chapters 9 and 10 from the novel Song Of The Hummingbird, we learn that women in both the Aztec and Spanish cultures, aren't very important. They are basically sex slaves to the guys, and are only used to make new offspring. We can tell women are kind of oppressed, because of the way guys treated them. If the guys found out the women were virgins, they would either kill them, or brutally beat them, just like Tetla did to Hummingbird. I would consider Hummingbird to be a feminist, because she isn't afraid to say what's on her mind. She can tell you some bad things she's done throughout her life, and not get embarrassed nor regret it.
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Tania Celestino
9/26/2013 01:31:35 pm
Women in both the Aztec and Spanish culture are discriminated. In the Aztec culture some women are concubines which men just used to have children with. In both cultures women are suppose to stay virgins until marriage. If women not virgins their husband can chose to brutally beat them or kill them like Tetla did on his and Hummingbird's wedding night because she wasn't a virgin. She doesn't considered that action a sin. I considered Hummingbird a feminist because is very bold and proud of herself. She is brave enough to do many things women were not allow to do in her culture.
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Fatima Romero
9/26/2013 01:40:33 pm
In both Aztec and Spanish women were equally oppressed. This meaning that in both cultures they were to bare children and care of them. In the novel it said that when Telta discovered that Huitzitzilin was not a virgin be beater to the point where he thought she was dead, and then Father Benito said that a man from Spain would also do that if he discovered that his wife was not a virgin before marriage. I would consider Huitzitzilin a feminist. The reason being is because she would always speak her mind. Another thing would be that she recovered and stood up after she was almost beaten to dead by her own husband.
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Alexander Trujillo
9/26/2013 02:04:05 pm
In both Spanish and Aztecs culture women are both not respected, but do play a role in both Spanish and Aztecs culture. In Huitzitzilan's story about marriage, she talks about that in her culture women were concubines to Aztec men to raise children. It was also vital that the women is suppose to remain a virgin to not cause a sin. For both cultures, if a women did fornication before marriage, the husband is allowed to kill the wife for their sins. Even though Tetla found out that she wasn't a virgin anymore her husband beat her to almost death instead of killing her. Women are also very important because King Montezuma had his own court that had women and were present when King Montezuma greeted Hernan Cortes and his soldiers. There was a woman translator named Malinche who was very different from Huitzitzilan, because Malinche is proud of her life and her culture. I wouldn't consider Huitzitzilan a feminist because she didn't do anything men would do that women could do or didn't do, but I would consider Maliche a feminist because she actually did her best to do what men were suppose to do than just being a women that gets controlled by her husband and culture.
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Michael Ponce
9/26/2013 02:04:20 pm
The role of a female in both the Aztec and Spanish culture is that they are not important. Woman is supposed to be a virgin until marriage.If woman are not virgins when married the husban could take severe actions on them. Basicaly woman are sex slaves and only are used to create children and for mans pleasure. These are some of the ways women's are treated in both the Aztec and Spanish.culture.Hummingbird is not a conventional female because
she is not afraid. I consider Huitzitzilan a feminist because she is not ashamed of herself and she is very open.
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Yerlin Lopez
9/26/2013 02:15:41 pm
In the novel, Song of the Hummingbird we see the author Graciela Limon explains the role of a female in both Spanish and Aztec culture.In some ways we see the similarities of the ways Spanish and Aztec cultures treated women. In both cultures we see the virginity of a women is a big deal to the men and if they are not virgins they are consider a disgrace. Both the Spanish and Aztec men will brutally beat the women if they are not virgins like Tetla who beat Hummingbird for not being a virgin.A women's role is basically to just give a men an offspring.In both cultures women are oppress by men. I would consider Hummingbird a feminist because she is open minded and is not afraid to voice her thoughts.
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Yesenia Ramirez
9/26/2013 02:16:29 pm
Well both Aztec and Spanish women back in the day and even now are being oppressed . Believe it or not but in some countries now , this is happening . Women were basically seen as house workers and raised their man 's child. They were treated very similar on both society's . For example the Aztec women had to be a virgin and stay a virgin. If not their husband then had the right to beat or kill their wifes. They believed it was something not human - like . As of now , I'm not sure if its gone. But in most places this isn't seen no more . Huitzitzilin fornicated lots of times with her cousin . When Telta found out by observing her closely . He was mad and instead of killing her . He made her suffer by beating her bad. Luckily she survived , she was really strong . She's very different from common women. She is very out there . She's not afraid of saying what she believes . She's not one who is ashamed of what she's done . If she wants something to happen , it will happen . This demonstrates us that the old women is a feminist due to her courage and bravery. In those times and even now its something some women still lack of having . Some women get beaten and say nothing . Its illegal to beat a women or child to death now. Women now are more free and have more voice on their opinions unlike before. They were not even allowed to vote .
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Jennifer Chupin
9/26/2013 02:23:07 pm
Both women were not basically respected. They did basically are thing that important. I think the major issue was that if the women was not a virgin on the day of there wedding, then the husband can do whatever he wants because the women did something bad. Basically, it was like a crime. Hummingbird was not a conventional female because she is not afraid to speak her mind. She will like shut you up if you consider women weak. We are just considered weak because that is how some men had made us become. She is a feminist because she is not weak. She is a strong independent women. She can be a man under a women costume, She is not afriad to speak her mind and talk about some very DETAILED stuff.
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Leonel Rivas
9/26/2013 02:24:15 pm
In both the aztec and Spanish culture the women are oppressed and are taken advantage of. In both cultures the women are basically used as sex slaves and are only there to give men pleasure. Another thing that these 2 cultures have in common is that the women have to be virgins and if they are not then they face brutal consequences like the one that Hummingbird faced. Women were also just used to raise children and to be in the kitchen doing what was supposedly their job. Even though these things look dumb to us today people actually thought these things to be something good. In my opinion i believe that Hummingbird is not a feminist due to being brave and not being scared to do things that every women was afraid to do.
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Heidi Ramos
9/26/2013 02:31:40 pm
The role of the female in both Spanish and Aztec culture were not really important. In the Aztec culture, if you are a women they make you marry a man, even you don't want to. It also happened in the Spanish culture the girls were assigned to a man out of their own will. In both cultures, if the women is not a virgin until marriage, the male has to right to beat her or even kill her. The women's didn't have any rights at all, they were powerless, the were careless about the women's in their culture. In my opinion it was not fair at all, they should freedom and rights like the men. Hummingbird is not a conventional female but she was rebellious. She did what she wanted to do and spoke her mind. She is a strong women. I consider hummingbird a feminist because she does what she thinks is right and she doesn't listen to what other people tell her, she thinks for herself, she's an overpowered women that's why I consider to be feminist.
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Zaira Gaspar
9/26/2013 02:51:33 pm
In the Spanish and Aztec culture women have to be virgins until marriage. If the women have sex before marriage then the husband can chose whether to kill them or beat them. In both cultures, the women basically just need to create children and well satisfy their husbands. Hummingbird is not a conventional female because she was not a virgin when she got married. Although she is not a conventional female she is a feminist because she speaks for herself and is not afraid of what others think about her. She is not ashamed of telling her story nor telling the priest that she was not a virgin when she got married. She thinks and decides for herself whether others like it or not. She is a role for women to follow, but only the part where she knows how to defend herself and is not embarrass to tell some personal experiences.
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Susana Gonzalez
9/26/2013 03:34:06 pm
When reading chapters 8-9 we learn that both in Spaniards and Aztec's culture the woman are not very significant, but they do play a major role in the cultures. In the Aztec culture the women are just concubines to the men, this means that the men just used the woman in order to have children and for the pleasure of just having a good time. But they are abused such as when Tetla discovered that Hummingbird was no longer a virgin and so he beat her almost to her death because the women in the Aztec culture cannot have sex with someone until they are united by god, which means that they must be married. This was the exact same thing as what the Spaniards had. The woman were sometimes important in some situations such as when the king, Montezuma, had a court in process when he went towards the Spaniards (invaders) to go welcome them and in his court women were a part of it. Also, the translator for the Spaniards was a woman named, Malinche. But Hummingbird is very different to other woman because she has a translucent charisma and she does not reflect back on what she has done in her past life because she is satisfied of her life and culture. I would think that Hummingbird is feminist due to the fact that she is very open in things such as when talking to other people. And some women aren’t capable of doing this. This leaves me to truly believe that Hummingbird has a lot of bravery that many other women don’t have.
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Joshua Vissoni
9/26/2013 03:40:45 pm
Women in both the Aztec and Spanish culture have similar roles. Women's most important role in the Aztec and Spanish society is to get married off and serve as concubines to men, the men had many concubines and their only role was to fornicate with their "husband." Women also had to remain virgins until they were married off, after marriage was when they were allowed to have sex, but only with their "husband." If woman were not virgins by the the time they got married and the man found out the man had every right to kill the woman of beat her, inn their eyes this was the right thing to do. Furthermore, woman had no power in their society they only had jobs designed for woman such as raising kids and housekeepers. I would consider Hummingbird a feminist because when she was young she did many things that were not allowed by her society and does not regret it.
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Leticia Diaz
9/26/2013 04:57:56 pm
In the novel the role of the Aztec and Spanish women were discussed briefly but harshly. It was described with enough information to describe the role a women played in the society. In the Spanish and Aztec culture women were used a sexual objects for pleasure for the men and society. In the Aztec culture women were meant for either being concubines or wife's. the women were expected to remain virgin until day of marriage, if the the husband had the right to kill her. Women were meant for having children. Same in the Spanish culture. Women were meant to just have children. If women weren't virgin the husband had the right to beat or kill the wife. The role of the women did not really have much importance as the men did.
Even though Huitzitzilan was a female she was not feminist. She did many manly things and was really out spoken she would not really care about what people thought of her. She cared more for her and speaking her mind.
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Jonathan Velasco
9/26/2013 11:10:03 pm
In a Spanish and Aztec culture, women play a major role. I would say that their crucial role is to fornicate with a man and to take care of and raise the children. Being a concubine was also involved in a woman's role. She would be like a wife to a man but more a person to fornicate with rather than to love. While most females just have their life like they are supposed to, being a conventional female, Huitzitzilan is not. In fact she can also be considered a feminist. For example, when Huitzitzilan talks with father Benito about Cortes's mistress. Huitzitzilan discussed that she was an example of what she herself was because Cortes's mistress acted upon herself. " 'I feel glad for her.' 'Why/' 'Because she did what her heart and mind told her to do.' " Here we see that Huitzitzilan can be considered a feminist because she approved of the mistress's actions. It shows that Huitzitzilan is not a typical woman. It shows that she is a woman that believes in rights for women instead of just going with the tradition that most women has to reluctantly face.
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Diane Leal
9/26/2013 11:10:39 pm
The was Aztec's and the current culture treated women is partially the same. For example, in the Axtec culture the women are mostly cocubines and oppressed. In today's culture men still try to oppress women, but they usually fail because now most women know how much power they have. I believe that Hummingbird didn't agree with her culture in the way they treated women. She always stood up for what she knew and was never ashamed of herself. Hummingbird is a feminist because she knows what is right and scolds men when they disrespect a woman. Finally, I believe Hummingbird to be a really strong woman who will always have courage and be proud of herself, no matter how men try to make her ashamed.
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Angel Mis
9/26/2013 11:39:53 pm
The role of woman is a very sad point in any culture from. They were commonly ignored, treated like dirt, and raised to become slaves to men. In both cultures, being a virgin was important. To some it was all a woman was good for. To put it simply, woman were oppressed. That is why Hummingbird is so different. She speaks her mind and goes against tradition. By some standards she is a feminist and she changes the way men think of woman. By today's standards, she is nothing special, but doing what she did back then took guts and courage.
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Marsha Jimenez
9/27/2013 12:32:29 am
In the previous chapters we can clearly see how Father Benito and Huitzitzilin found similarities in each other. Their culture had similar references such as a girl not being a virgin when married. When Huitzitzilzin tells about her tragic wedding night when her husband found out she was not a virgin Father Benito reference that in his culture the man would of also beaten their wife if they were not virgin until their wedding night. I also find that very irritating because they never say a girl had to be a virgin but they never once said a guy as well. I also was disturbed how its okay for a man to have man concubines and wives but if a women has a lot of husband then she looks bad. As a reference to the world today guys can have a lot of girlfriends and not look bad but on the other hand if a girl has a lot of boyfriends she looks bad and they start saying bad things to her. on another note, I think its amazing how before the Spaniards and the Aztecs even met they already had things in common like for instance a divine trinity and certain culture beliefs that entwine with each other.
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