Mexico Stereotypes Essay

During the Spanish conquest and colonization of Mexico, Roman Catholicism was founded as the main religion of Mexico, and today, about 89% of Mexicans identify themselves with Catholicism. Evangelical religions have grown in

Depending on the situation, if a task is viewed as more masculine, then the males of the family, when they come of age, are expected to complete them. On the other hand, if the task is viewed as more feminine, then the women in the households are expected to undertake those chores. The actions required in the family vary from household chores to providing for everyone. The most often talked about gender role in the Hispanic culture is the male in the family being the

Being Hispanic is being able to enjoy and demolish your mom’s tamales at Christmas. Being Hispanic is also being able to explain horchata to your friends and watch soccer games with your family. It’s being able to be proud of your culture and roots. However, being Hispanic is living in fear. Being Hispanic means sometimes you don’t know if your parents will come home from work. It’s being petrified that your dad may get pulled over because he is driving without a license. Being Hispanic is seeing your mom come home, tired from a low paying job, because she could not pursue an education. Hispanic means working hard in life to make your parents proud, to make all the looks of discrimination worth it. Being Hispanic is also being told “no” repeatedly,

The division of labor in the household hold depends on the environment. Society creates gender ideology that affects the roles women and men take on in the household. In The Second Shift by Arlie Russell, she states three different ideologies of gender. There is the traditional, transitional and egalitarian ideology that determines what sphere men and women want to identify with, home sphere or work sphere. However, it depends what kind on the time period and society you live in that determines the "norm" gender ideology, which affects the division of labor in a household. The society, which affected the Mendoza and Ortega family that I have observed and interviewed, constructs views of the appropriate

According to Giger, “in 2000, 70% of Mexican-American families were married couple families” (Giger, 2008). Of that 70%, 21% were female-headed households (Giger, 2008). That is significant. For one thing, this shows how far they have come as a culture, to assert female dominance in a household.

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.

To understand the word Machismo, one must understand that in Mexico, being born a male is of high prestige and valued more than if one was born female. Women are raised that one day they will marry a man and he will oversee the family, the family must obey him, and get his approval before doing anything.

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

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

Mexico is bordered by the United States on the north, the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea on the east, and Guatemala and Belize on the south. It is characterized by an extraordinary diversity in topography and climate and is crossed by two major mountain chains, the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental. The high central plateau between these two mountain ranges historically funneled most of the human population toward the center of this region. Mexico features volcanic peaks, snow-capped mountains, tropical rain forests, and internationally famous beaches. Mexico City is an enormous metropolitan area and dominates the rest of the country's culture, economy, and politics. Nearly

The machismo expected of Latino men is exemplified by Santiago Nasar. Machismo men as stereotypically thought of as strong, rich, loud, and as womanizers. They are often associated with violence. Nasar would be a prime example of this because in his closet he has a “Mannlicher Schoenauer, 30-.06 rifle, a .300 Holland & Holland Magnum rifle, a .22 Hornet with a

The staples of Mexican cuisine are typically corn and beans. Corn, traditionally Mexico's staple grain, is eaten fresh, on the cob, and as a component of a number of dishes. Most corn, however, is used to make masa, a dough for tamales, tortillas, gorditas, and many other corn-based foods. Squash and

In line with the above, and in recognition of the diversity of contemporary society, we should emphasize that "respect for diversity requires that family be defined openly and broadly so as to include whomever the family itself- with its unique culture, circumstances, and history-designates" (Allen and Petr 1998:8).

When people think of the word machismo, they automatically associated with Hispanic men or of Hispanic origin. This could be because of the word it self-wich is of Latin origin, and macho means male in Spanish, but because of this all Hispanic men are wrongfully characterized with machismo. Most people think all Hispanics behave in this way, which is not true. This behavior is often seen in many Hispanic males, and like in most societies other men praise it, the main difference is that in Hispanic society this type of behavior has higher acceptance than in other societies. Even though this is true it is still wrong to

Society is composed of many elements based on values, traditions, cultures, government’s policies etc.; and family is one of the main basic ingredients, forming the society. Therefore, as the society changes its element, family is also forced to change the flow of life. Yet, during the past 50 years, our society has undergone big social transformations which are seen as “dramatic and unparallel changes” or a “veritable revolution”. Thus, the two basic forms of family, the extended family and the