Resumen:
This article analyzes the representativity of the variable gender in the use of the insult in 16th and 17th centuries¿ lawsuits for libel. Firstly, enunciation conditions of greatest social impact are set out according to the cultural context of the time. Secondly, taking into account the senders¿ age and social level, both male and female uses of language are observed regarding the lexical codification as well as the frequency, strength, variety of the voices employed and the preferred interlocutor in these communicative interchanges. By clustering men and women in the use of verbal aggression, this work concludes the levelling function this linguistic act exerts on the examined time point. In addition, verbal aggression is carried out with terms and expressions of identical lexical and semantic strength. Nevertheless, gender distinguishes both the frequency of the insults and their variety of codification, which are bigger in men. Furthermore, it determines the preference of the addressee, whose gender decides lexical and semantic uses clearly distinguished