Shedding Blood in Spain during the Early Modern Period: A Gender Perspective

Are the two sexes equal with respect to the act of shedding blood? To what extent does gender guide representations of the act of shedding blood? An initial analysis seems to confirm that women are excluded from the act of shedding blood, whether concretely or symbolically. Discourses and representations exclude them from war and hunting, or -according to certain norms and social uses still prevailing today- from the acts of cutting meat or serving wine at the table As members of the "gentle sex", women appear to be meant for activities perceived as peaceful: household chores, or raising children. Consequently, female warriors and violent women are considered to be monsters or exceptions, whose behavior is due to exceptional circumstances, such as death or absence of male figures. The mental barriers that separate women from bloodshed -war and hunting, in particular- are also applied to clergymen. To what extent, then, does gender-belonging determine the representations of the act of spilling blood?