Gendering Maya ballgame imagery

Abstract

This thesis explores ballgame imagery to show that the Maya ballgame was gendered male through a connection of masculine identifiers, depictions, and power. It shows that the Maya ballgame was gendered as masculine and in so doing will lend itself to closer consideration of female presence, or lack thereof, in some facets of Maya politics and society. This becomes clear through an analysis of ballgame imagery at Yaxchilan, where monumental depictions of the ballgame serve to legitimize the ruler’s authority through its masculine discourse. As I argue, the emphasis on the ballgame at Structure 33 also promotes Yaxun Bahlam IV’s power via his masculinity. I negotiate a space within Maya scholarship to reevaluate the default category of male and masculine that have so far been taken at face value and seen as unremarkable.