Women in Maya society held important roles as equals to their husband counterparts. They held the responsibility of the weaver and the harvester (Arden 2002). Women's ability to give birth and create new life tied them closer to the spiritual world and gave them a view of having a very special power and capability. Later on in the Bloodletting section I will discuss how many archaeologists believe that by men piercing their penises they were modeling the menstrual cycle of a woman, attempting to further attach themselves to the spiritual world (Hughes).Although women did not participate in warfare, their actions in the home through ritual behavior was believed to directly correlate with their husband's success (Reece-Taylor 2009). Marriage was viewed much the same as many others, a political and social alliance not a match of love. Young women were separated from males and resided with their mother to hold them to strict purity until marriage (Arden 2002).
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