Women’s Fashions and Politics in Seventeenth-Century Spain: The Rise and Fall of the Guardainfante *
Abstract Women’s clothes were at the center of political debate in the Spain of Philip IV (r. 1621–65), and no garment inspired more controversy than the wide-hipped farthingale, or hoopskirt, known as the guardainfante. Considered scandalous with its reputation for hiding illicit pregnancies, the guardainfante was banned in 1639. Nonetheless, the guardainfante became more popular than ever and turned into an enduring icon of Golden Age Spain during the reign of Philip’s second queen, Mariana of Austria (1649–65). Despite the guardainfante’s high level of visibility, most notably in court portraits by Diego Velázquez, very little is known about the historical experiences of the women who wore it. This article demonstrates that real women really did wear the guardainfante in a variety of contexts outside of portraiture and the theater. In Madrid and in cities throughout the Spanish empire, women of different stations and convictions participated in the political culture of their times by making, disseminating, and debating this controversial garment.
Women and Carriages in 17th-Century Aragonese Burlesque Poetry
ABSTRACT: During the 17th century, literature turned the growing number of carriages into a burlesque topic. There were countless poems written about traffic jams, accidents, or the proper way to ask a friend for a carriage, often considered a symbol of status. Literary references to carriages can tell us many things about the men and women who used them, as well as about gender stereotypes. Women and carriages were understood as interconnected elements in Early Modern Spain; carriages appear as a means to conquer feminine muses as well as a recurrent satirical topic even for women poets. This article analyzes some rarely studied burlesque poems by Aragonese writers José Navarro, Alberto Díez, José Tafalla and Ana Abarca de Bolea, among others, that can help us understand the range and extension of some oversimplified topoi on womanhood that have survived until today. RESUMEN: El incremento del número de coches marcó su impronta en la literatura del siglo XVII. Testimonios poéticos de género diverso dan cuenta de temas burlescos muy acusados como el tráfico abundante, los accidentes o la forma de pedir prestado un vehículo que no todos podían permitirse. Estas referencias literarias a los coches aportan valiosa información sobre la sociedad de su tiempo y la configuración de ciertos estereotipos femeninos. En la España del Siglo de Oro, coches y mujeres llegan a entenderse como elementos interconectados: los carruajes aparecen como medio para conquistar a las mujeres que inspiran estos poemas burlescos, cuya escritura debemos incluso a una pluma femenina. Este artículo analiza en su contexto algunos poemas apenas estudiados de los aragoneses José Navarro, Alberto Díez, José Tafalla Negrete y Ana Abarca de Bolea, entre otros, que ilustran el alcance de tópicos sobre la subjetividad femenina que han pervivido hasta nuestros días.
Dressing Up and Dressing Down: Clothing and Class Identity in the Novelas ejemplares
La identidad y su construccion social es una de las preocupaciones mas notables de las Novelas ejemplares. Los personajes se construyen y se reconstruyen a traves de mecanismos que cuestionan categorias establecidas de genero, nacionalidad y nivel social. A lo largo de las Novelas ejemplares la ropa figura como un importante marcador de divisiones sociales y, en particular, de nivel o estatus social. Factores como la moda y las telas, por ejemplo, hacen que el vestido sea el signo mas visible y mas cambiable de la identidad. A pesar de las leyes suntuarias que prohibian la transgresion de las barreras sociales, en las Novelas ejemplares el atuendo se puede manipular para desafiar y finalmente desestabilizar el concepto tradicional de la jerarquia social como algo fijo y natural. Al utilizar la ropa como un tipo de accesorio dramatico, los personajes demuestran que la identidad social es inestable y fluida. Aunque este efecto desestabilizador de la ropa es evidente en todas las novelas, el presente estudio se limite a examinarlo en aquellas cuya accion principal ocurre en Espana.