This essay examines the varied and shifting representations of women in Jeronimo de Barrionuevo's "Avisos", a collection of semi-private letters exchanged between Barrionuevo in Madrid and an ecclesiastical Dean in Zaragoza during the reign of Philip IV. While the "Avisos" report on an exhaustive range of topics, women form a prominent part of the letters, from the Queen of Spain to women from the lower strata of society. This study shows that while women appear in the reports with significant regularity, the portraits are invariably damning and are curiously aligned with the way in which Barrionuevo depicts and denigrates the political and religious enemies of Spain. (Contains 3 notes.)