Cultural Ideology Of Machismo

Machismo is a cultural construct which is associated with negative masculinity within the Hispanic/Latino culture. The terms popular definition can be defined as superiority of the male, male pride, and aggressive maleness (Hardin, 2002). The term originates from the word “macho” which refers to a man, a biological sense of maleness or a male animal. Traditions associate “macho” with fatherhood and an active male sexuality that gives pride to male superiority. Generally, men associate the term “macho” with a positive image and the sense of “being a man,” although the term is a reflection of the backward, rural and uneducated sectors of Mexico, it continues to be accepted in todays context (Ramirez, 2008). Machismo is a male dominant ideology

For example, author Manuel Pena contributes to this ideology by stating that machismo can be justified as a class issue that has developed throughout centuries. He wishes to dismantle this folklore by reshaping this idea as an acceptable cultural norm but fails to realize that he, as a Mexican man, is designed to believe that such traditions are acceptable. Instead, he emphasizes the subordinate status that women have in society and even though he attempts to even out the gender gap he fails in doing so since he continues to justify why Mexican men behave the way the do towards women (Pena, M., 1991). Unfortunately, Pena is not the first or the last of the many men who seek to justify machismo and its traditional value within Mexican Culture. Men view machismo as a gateway to increase masculinity and contain cultural pride, anybody who steers away from such ideology is not doing what men are supposed to

Unfortunately, machismo continues to be present in Latin American countries in which men control and obstruct women from making their own decisions. Mexico has seen the traces of machismo through education in which families favor their sons over daughters when funding higher education. Fathers fail to give permission for women to attain a higher education in that the fear that they are steering way from tradition, a woman must only leave her home when handed away for marriage, going to college challenges such ideology. The primary role emphasized for Mexican women is that of a mother, supporting the cultural belief that a women must fulfill her duties, sacrificing herself for her family before thinking about her personal development. The lack of schooling and support from the state is the reason why women continue to be overseen the Latin American culture (Ruiz-Balsara,