If we examine the conquest and colonization of Latin America, we see that from the conquest and colony period to the modern era women have been instrumental in helping define Latin American civilization. If we examine the conquest and colony period we discover a woman known as Catalina de Erauso, a Lieutenant Nun who disguised herself as a man to serve as a soldier of fortune for the Spanish Crown. The domination of women in this era by males is significant because it demonstrates that a woman had to act, dress, and behave like a man to be considered not inferior to a man. Through her masculine pursuits and her chastity and devotion to the Catholic Church, Erauso “stepped outside the boundaries of womanhood into the realm of male domination” (Essay 2, p. 1). Erauso is important with respect to the conquest and colonization of Latin America, because in their treatment of women we see the dominant male ideologies of Spaniards that they would use to trample the rights of the indigenous peoples in Latin America. In other words, Erauso’s example shows us how dominant in all aspects of society and how ethnocentric powerful men of this era remained.
The same ideologies and ethnocentrism responsible for the status and treatment of women during the conquest and colonization period, were also responsible for the enslavement of millions of indigenous peoples in Latin America. We see this in Vassouras: A Brazilian Coffee Country, 1850-1900. We see the domination and destruction of the culture and environment of indigenous peoples as the Conquistadores continued to pursue wealth from the natural resources of the land. Plantations and slave life were often dehumanizing, always one-sided in terms of power and control, and resulted in the destruction of thousands of indigenous peoples and their lands. However, we see that both male and female slaves were instrumental in stemming the tide of such destruction. From outright rebellion ...