Machismo and Latin American Men Essay

The United States is made up of an astounding assortment of people of all different types, boasting one of the most diverse populations compared to anywhere around the world. Of these different peoples, toxic masculinity affects each group differently, with an especially profound effect to be found when studying those who identify as Latin- or Hispanic-American. While attempting to homogenize the many unique and beautiful facets of various Latin and Hispanic cultures is a disservice, they tend to share many traits which can be simplified, including their ideas on gender roles. In many Hispanic cultures, there are strong gender roles and ideas about gender that are traditionally built into every aspect of the culture, especially in the form of “machismo”, or the Hispanic ideas of masculinity. In some cultures, “…women are supposedly submissive… men are characterized by verbal and bodily aggression… and sexual dominance,” (Cantú 150). When combined with the gendered expectations and stereotypes that are increasingly prevalent in American culture, young Hispanic-American boys are growing up with an overwhelming volume of standards being impressed upon them from all sides. This same phenomenon can be seen again in African-American communities and cultures, with the already painfully present standards of white American masculinity being taken to another level by a culture which serves to pile on an even stricter set of standards on to its men. As with the Latin American ideas of

We define masculinity in a very narrow way. Masculinity becomes this hard, small cage, and we put boys inside the cage. We teach boys to be afraid of fear. We teach boys to be afraid of weakness, of vulnerability. We teach them to mask their true selves because they have to be, in Nigeria speak, ‘hard man’ (Adichie).

Society faces an issue that is not usually addressed because it is seen as the norm in today’s American culture. It is the crisis of masculinity. The notion of how men should be portrayed is not usually identified as a problem; today’s society views men’s apathetic and exasperated exterior as the orthodox behavior of everyday life. Boys at a young age are taught by the popular culture that they need to be a “real man” - strong physically and emotionally. The mask many men put up is based on the extreme idea of masculinity that emphasizes toughness, physical strength and gaining the respect of others through violence or the explicit threat of it. This front is put up by men because they do not want to stray from what is accepted, for men who

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Chronicles of a Death Foretold shows how Machismo drives all male ambition. Machismo, in Latin American countries was derived from the word macho meaning an intense masculine pride. Machismo was first used in 1948, and was taken as a code of honour for men, rules that would make you considered macho. Respect and reputation are highly regarded as important traits in Machismo, and are the driving force of reason in the novel. (Add another sentence about the broadness of Machismo).

Masculine’s definition is stereotypically twisted. The myth and reality of the cowboy shaped today’s definition of masculinity because they have this high and strong structure they need to uphold. Masculinity is having the traditional acts as a man, such as being strong and secure. In today’s world man and women have two different mindsets. Even though we are all humans, our gender defines the way we should act due to how society makes it. The myth has affected males physically, emotionally and mentally. The idea is that they are supposed to act accordingly. In reality, everyone wants to grow up differently, so why would they be forced to act/be a certain way?

Lopez, R. A. (2009, April 09). The other side of machismo. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.latinoopinion.com/category/cultural-traits/machismo/

Accordingly, it all comes down to culture. It's what people create and it affects absolutely everyone but in their own way. Latinos are usually seen as sassy or even rude at least that's the stereotype for them. The men in Latino culture usually

In Latin American culture, machismo is seen as a behavior through which the Latino males exhibit an overbearing attitude to anyone in a position he sees as inferior to theirs, thereby demanding total respect and subservience. Even though Machismo has been defined with an extremely negative connotation, a macho can also be seen as a caring and responsible person within the traditional Latino culture. The negative connotations that have been attributed to Machismo are aggressiveness, womanizing, emotional insensitivity and physical strength.

discusses the image of the ''Macho mans'' as an ideal for the American people. Throughout his

Machismo is a rather popular Spanish word meaning strong or aggressive masculine pride. I know this word so well that we could basically move in together because I have seen it take life before my own eyes for years now by my no one else but my father. This word has brought pain and suffering to my mother and by doing so has also inevitably harmed me. This word has shown me the ugly and the mean. But, this word has also shown me what I am and what I will not be and for that, I am grateful.

There are different countries and cultures in the world. Sometimes when Americans view other cultures’ values the actual truth becomes distorted. In her article “Americanization is tough on the Macho,” Rose Del Castillo Guilbault examines the concept of macho from both the Hispanics and Americans perspective. The Hispanic view of macho embodies a man described by Guilbault as manly, responsible, hardworking, a patriarch and a person who expresses strength through silence. She describes her father as a man who “handled most menial task with pride.” In a patriarchal society such as Mexico, the man is regarded as the nucleus of the family. The man represents

Yunior embodies the Latin American stereotypes of masculinity, el machismo, which Marysol Asencio discusses in her article “Machos and Sluts: Gender, Sexuality, and Violence among a Cohort of Puerto Rican Adolescents.” She summarizes machismo as the view that a man must dominate women, control women's sexuality through physical violence and verbal aggression, sexually attracting women, have the mastery of the home, protect their family and project feelings of unhappiness, anger, honor, respect and dignity. "Macho males may refuse to do anything they perceive to be feminine... They are assumed to have a stronger sexual "drive" than females and

When working with machismo we can identify two characteristics that appears, the first one is aggressiveness. As we can read in the book of One Hundred years of solitude we can see that the buendia families males all come masculine and strong forward, and they own the women and everything in their paths. That is the common Latin American male, yet in the book the woman have some authority in the matter of machismo. When verbal or physical rise up then fists or weapons needs to used. They say that a true “macho” shouldn’t be afraid of anything.

In order to fully understand a more in depth evaluation of both why and how men conform to this social phenomenon, one must know how hegemonic masculinity is defined. This term was made popular by Connell’s work Gender and Power which critiqued the male social role and how hegemonic masculinity has developed (Connell 830). Scholars agree that hegemonic masculinity is characterized by “being emotionally detached and

Being a male in today’s society is not about living and enjoyment, it has become more of a task. Social pressures and media have made it difficult for males to live a life in which they are not being pressured to act or perform a certain way. In order to reassure themselves of their masculinity, violence has become the main method in assuring themselves and those around them that they are powerful. Not only is this violence being perpetrated against others, but self-inflicted violence also exists. The violence being used is not only physical but it is emotional abuse as well. Masculinity has forced many males to perform in ways that are detrimental to their own health as well as their loved ones. Furthermore, it has also put males in the