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Celibacy is a preponderant phenomenon in free colored families, which explains the predominance of adult women in this free population and also the significant proportion of these women who tend to be mistresses of white men or their concubines. These women do not marry with whites because of the color prejudice, but celibacy is not necessarily an imposed choice and can be a life strategy. Some colored free women prefer to be the mistress of a wealthy white, rather than the concubine of a small white or the wife of a poor free colored person. In the free colored population, the situation of married women is not necessarily the most desirable. Marriage can be a legal strategy that allows the emancipation of the slave spouse. In colored families that have been free for several generations, marriage has become a strategy for inheritance. These marriages between established families allow the creation of a colored bourgeoisie.