10. Aztec women were banned from drinking chocolate because it was an aphrodisiac
Whilst it was fine for Montezuma to drink 50 cups of chocolate a day, Aztec women were nowhere near as lucky. Given that beans had to be imported from considerable distances, it was natural that not everyone could be allowed the finished product. Aztec law reserved chocolate only for royalty, nobility, merchants trading far afield, and warriors. And no woman at all was allowed chocolate, supposedly because of the aphrodisiac properties of the beverage. Which is rather unfair, given that Montezuma would have been thought to be in a near-constant state of arousal and hence perpetually searching for new mistresses.
Clearly, as in contemporary European thought, female sexual arousal was not a commendable virtue in Aztec society, though it was to be praised in men. But even if they weren’t allowed to drink it, women were certainly expected to prepare and serve it, as in the illustration above. Montezuma aside, most men only drank chocolate as a dessert at banquets. Beyond morality and social mores, the scarcity and great expense of cacao beans would also have been a factor in the law being passed. After all, some people had to go hungry to provide for Montezuma’s 50-a-day habit.
