Cloth, Gender, Continuity, and Change: Fabricating Unity in Anthropology

In this article, I compare backstrap‐loom weaving in three cultural contexts: the ancient Maya, the ancient Aztecs, and 20th‐century Mesoamerica. Although continuities are present, important differences exist in the ways that weaving was situated historically. Among the Classic Maya, weaving defined class; in Aztec Mexico, weaving defined gender; and in 20th‐century Mesoamerica, weaving defined ethnicity. A comparison of these cases suggests...