Hombres Y Machos Summary

In Hombres y Machos Alfredo Mirandé attempts to rectify what he considers misconceptions about Chicano/Latino masculinity that have been perpetuated in the writings of foreign social scientists, whose research is based on "meagre, nonexistent, and misinterpreted evidence" (5). Mirandé calls into question the negative, monolithic view of machismo and Latino masculinity according to which men are powerful, aggressive, and dominant and women are weak, submissive, and self-sacrificing. He further suggests that these negative images are used to legitimate the economic and political subordination of Latinos.

In the opening chapters Mirandé establishes a clear distinction between positive and negative concepts of machismo and provides an overview, particularly useful for the non-Hispanic reader, of explanations for the emergence of Mexican hypermasculinity. The most prevalent theory sees hypermasculinity as arising from a profound sense of impotence and inferiority caused by the Spanish Conquest; a second sees

His questionnaire, which examines how Latino males view themselves, inquires into men's beliefs on the topics of machismo, masculinity, and fatherhood, but it ignores their day-to-day sexual and gendered practices. It is constructed as a series of statements with which the respondent should agree or disagree--for example, "It is natural for a man to fool around before marriage"; "A man should help his wife with chores and child care" (92-93)--and not as questions that directly ask about the behavior of each interviewee. While Mirandé praises the sincerity and integrity of his respondents, it is obvious that, had he conducted anonymous interviews and asked direct questions about marital fidelity and the equality of partners in marriage, he would have obtained very different results. He does not even question the discrepancies and