In the Aymara community of 'Utani', hierarchical relationships between middle aged and younger women are evident in the cycle of domestic life. An older woman - mother, sister, step mother, mother-in-law - has unquestioned authority as taskmistress over the labor of girls and young women; although very old women no longer wield such power. Post-marital residence patterns and the family life cycle contribute to the hierarchical relationships among women in an extended family household. When women's community-wide prestige is examined, however, a different pattern is apparent. Prestige among female peers is based less on age than on a woman's reputation for being long-suffering. The paper concludes that these two types of female hierarchy complement each other as part of women's adaptation to the exploitations of peasant life.