Machismo and Latin American Men

540 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Latin american gender roles

Machismo and Latin American Men

Normally when machismo comes up in a conversation, people are probably criticizing the behavior of a person or glorifying it. Machismo is generally referred to when men behave in an arrogant and aggressive manner often glorifying virility. Men who usually behave in this manner repute all feminine virtues in order to feel secure with their manhood, often going to extremes to protect their manly image. Even though this form of behavior is common among men everywhere, it is wrongly associated with an entire continent of Latin American men.

Men that carry out the “machismo way of life” feel that they have to constantly prove their manhood to the world. This is generally achieved by behaving in an aggressive manner among other men, also females are looked upon as objects and the more women you seduce, the manlier you are. This type of behavior is given praise by other men and by society in general, thus encouraging men to keep on behaving in this macho manner. Another way in which men carry out this macho life style is by a...

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code

    1607 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Kimmel’s essay “’Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code” he argues that the influence of society on masculinity is equal to or greater than biological influences on masculinity. In the essay, Kimmel uses various surveys and interviews to validate his argument. He points to peers, coaches, and family members as the people most likely to influence the development of a man’s masculinity. When a man has his manliness questioned, he immediately makes the decision never to say or do whatever caused him to be called a wimp, or unmanly. Kimmel’s argument is somewhat effective because the readers get firsthand accounts from the interviewees but the author does not provide any statistics to support his argument.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Robert Jensen The High Cost Of Manliness

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the essay, “The High Cost of Manliness,” writer Robert Jensen discusses the harmful effects of having male specific characteristics, such as masculinity. Jensen realizes that men’s actions and ways of living are judged based upon the characteristic of being manly. He argues that there is no valid reason to have characteristics associated with being male. Society has created the notion that masculinity is the characteristic that defines males as males.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Masculinity In Fiesta 1980 By Junot Diaz

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    Junot Diaz is a Dominican-American writer whose collection of short stories Drown tells the story of immigrant families in the urban community of New Jersey. His short story “Fiesta, 1980” focuses on Yunior, an adolescent boy from Dominican Republic and his relationship with his father. On the other hand, Piri Thomas was a great Latino writer from Puerto-Rico whose memoir Down These Mean Streets tells his life story as an adolescent residing in Harlem and the challenges he faces outside in the neighborhood and at home with his father. Both Diaz and Thomas in different ways explore the dynamics of father-son relationships in their work. Furthermore, both expose masculinity as a social construct.

    Read More

  • Shotgun Lovesongs Analysis

    2003 Words  | 5 Pages

    The concept of masculinity is considered as the qualities and characteristics of a man, typical what is appropriate to a man. In this article, A Community Psychology of Men and Masculinity: Historical and Conceptual Review, The author Eric S. Mankowski and Kenneth I. Maton, analyze four main themes: "Men as gendered beings, the privilege and damage of being a masculine man, men as a privileged group, and men’s power and subjective powerlessness. The second and fourth themes are described as

    Read More

  • The Guy Code Analysis

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    It imposes a consciousness that timidity is not a characteristic that men should have. In order to prove themselves, men usually attempt unhealthy and destructive acts to perform their courages and fearless, but these actions prone to suicidal and various other types of out of control or untouchable behaviors. Michael Kimmel states that, “ Men ages nineteen to twenty-nine are three times less likely to wear seat belts than women the same age”(Kimmel 468). Mr.Kimmel quoted a data to claim that young men assume safe driving as emasculation. As long as men are driving a car, using a seat bell means that they are afraid of injure or death. Beside those, it also represents this man cannot completely control his car; on the other hand, he is not masculine. Moreover, men have proclivity to violence. In “From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos” by Joan Morgan, she specifically argus machismo behaviors among Africa Americans. She wrote that “When brothers can talk so cavalierly about killing each other and then reveal that they have no expectation to see their twenty-first birthday, that is straight-up depression masquerading as machismo”(Morgan 456). As a consequence of overflowing reckless and brutal actions, black men are more easily motivated to perform their machismo by murdering each other. It obviously states a situation that due to the suggestion and guidance from man box, the concept of intrepidity and brave has been distorted. Masculinity in these men’s mind represents a willing to die as long as they have manifested no

    Read More

  • What Are The Stereotypes In The House On Mango Street

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Over time, the image of men has changed. This is due mostly to the relaxation of rigid stereotypical roles of the two genders. In different pieces of literature, however, men have been presented as the traditional dominate figure, the provider and rule maker or non-traditional figure that is almost useless and unimportant unless needed for sexual intercourse. This dramatic difference can either perpetuate the already existing stereotype or challenge it. Regardless of the differences, both seem to put men into a negative connotation.

    Read More

  • The High Cost Of Manliness Analysis

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    Men are allegedly competitive, aggressive, dominant, and strong and if these attributes are not acquired a man is not a man. When other men recognize a man failing in those four areas of “manliness” they compare him to a female with negative connotation as expressed in the following quote, “The worst insult one man can hurl at another-whether its boys on the playground or CEOs in the boardroom-is the accusation that a man is like a woman.” These actions create perceptions that women are unworthy and pitiful. Jensen mentions that because of masculinity men are thought to seek control over women resulting in an increase of physical violence towards women. However, masculinity has harsh effects on men as well. Men are constantly trying to prove their dominance to each other, while competing against one another for ultimate dominance. This creates a never ending cycle of competition and unease for

    Read More

  • Patriarchy: The Undermining of Women in the Hispanic-American Culture

    1973 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women have to face a lot of oppression from the patriarchal world we live in, and are treated like object by the male dominance, especially if you are women raise in a Latino culture. A journal article, “Domestic Violence in Hispanics in southeastern United States: A survey and Need Analysis”, by Carolyn Murdaugh, Salena Hunt, Richard Sowell, and Irma Santana states the high domestic violence occurrences in the Hispanic community. The article states, “Latina in the US, with 54.9% reporting violent victimization” (Murdaugh, etc. 107). In almost every culture, patriarchy exists, expecting that female existence to be inferior, and more like an object than an equal. All women in their lives have face oppression, abuse, or harassment because they are women. A woman is not supposed to be an independent persons, they are expected to be a servant for male dominance. When women break away from these sexist norms, they are prosecuted as a whore or are beaten as a punishment. In the traditional Hispanic culture, if you do not take the role of the virgin, mother, or wife, you are judged and criticized of being a whore. Hispanic mothers and fathers have been telling their little girls and women that they must obey their husband. Also, men have been learning throughout their whole life is to be superior and abusive in order to maintain discipline in the household. It is a Hispanic tradition, so it not completely fault of men that women are being treated this; it is society and it is hard to break away from it. Society has portrayed women or the feminine role to be weak and inferior to the male dominance. People believe because of the feminine side, women should be discipline and treated as object with only sexual purposes. I believe that Latinas should have the rights to live their lives, without being criticized of what they done.

    Read More

  • Machismo In Latin America

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    To say that many countries in Latin-American and in Europe are machistas is not a surprise for anyone. People who have born in Spain or in Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela grew in a society with fewer rights for women than men. The word machismo means "arrogant attitude of men towards women". This occurs in every single moment in our lives from our born to our death. But, at this moment I want to analyze the machismo in three areas: family, school and work.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Mexican Culture

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many differences in gender role in different cultures. People are expected to act different and do different things. It is important to know these differences to respect other cultures. Knowing the differences also helps us from accidentally insulting other cultures. No two cultures are the same. There are always differences but there are also similarities. Though Mexico and America are very close, there are many differences in gender role, along with some similarities.

    Read More

  • Hegemonic Masculinity in American Society

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    Masculinity is described as possession of attributes considered typical of a man. Hegemonic masculinity is a form of masculine character with cultural idealism and emphasis that connects masculinity to competitiveness, toughness, and women subordination. Masculinity hegemonic is the enforcement of male dominion over a society. Masculine ideology dates back to the time of agrarian and the industrial revolution in Europe when survival compelled men to leave their homesteads to work in industries to earn a living for their families while women remained at home to take care of family affairs (Good and Sherrod 210). Women did not work in industries then because industrial labor was considered too physical beyond their capacity. This led to definition of roles which placated the position of men in a society while condemning women as mere subordinates who cannot do without men. The critics of gender stereotypes in America describe the following five hegemonic features of masculinity: frontiersman ship, heterosexuality, occupational achievement, familial patriarchy, and physical force and control (Trujillo 4). The advent of the 20th century led to sweeping changes in American masculinity.

    Read More

  • The Nonexistence of Kindness: George Price

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, altruism is defined as an “unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others”. In simpler terms, altruism is unconditional kindness. Altruistic behavior has been a controversial and obscure subject among biologists, including Charles Darwin, who was one of the first to try and explain this phenomenon. “To explain the evolution of altruism, Charles Darwin suggested that natural selection could act on groups as well as individuals--an idea known as group selection”(Schwartz). Group selection, which was based off of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, was the theory that an individual organism would sacrifice itself (seemingly selflessly) for the good of the entire population, hoping that its actions would save the group from annihilation and therefore allow for the continuation of the group’s gene flow into its descendants. Darwin explained that groups with members “ready to give aid to each other and sacrifice themselves for the com...

    Read More

  • History of School Shootings in US

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    School shootings seemed like a new phenomenon, but they occurred for the majority of American history. The first school shooting occurred On July 26, 1764, when a Lenape Indian shot and killed nine children and the school master of the Greencastle, Pennsylvania school (Galvin): as noted in Appendix A. Since 1764, the number of school shootings rose exponentially. In the 1990’s, eighty-six school shootings occurred and between 2000 and 2014, 110 shootings transpired since 2000 (Killam,2008). The development of semiautomatic weapons lead to an increase in deaths. A study conducted in 1990 found through the years of 1986 to 1990; 71 people died, 201 wounded, and 242 people held hostage by school shooters(Galvin). While the area a school serves as one factor in the number of violent acts committed per year, school shootings have not been connected to this. The schools in Chicago dealt with more violent acts, but Sandy Hook Elementary, a small city school had relatively few violent acts committed by students.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Latin American Societies

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    The idea that a woman’s job is to be a wife and mother is old-fashioned, but not completely out of style. Though these roles require a great deal of talent, resilience, patience, love, and strength, to name a few, they are often underestimated or depicted as simple. Especially in modern times, many women in the United States who stay home to raise a family are viewed as anti-feminists, whereas women in Latin America are not criticized for similar actions. In recent decades, more Latin American women have started to break the mold, daring to be both sexy, and successful in the workforce, while remaining pillars of domestic life.

    Read More

  • Essay On Prostitution

    753 Words  | 2 Pages

    Prostitution being illegal and staying that way will help deter young girls from being interested in joining that field of work especially known that they can be locked up. Another reason that prostitution should remain illegal that often times young girls are introduced to drugs like heroine and cocaine while caught up in the world of prostitution, during a year a prostitute can have had sex with as many as fifty men; this can leave them feeling worthless so often times they may turn to hard drugs to ease their pains of feeling used. Lastly, many prostitutes end up either getting killed if a customer forces the prostitutes into sex and he or she doesn’t give consent into sexual services majority of the time prostitutes will get raped. Keeping prostitution illegal does more for society because the majority of prostitution happens during night time in areas known to have bad reputations that are filled with criminals like thieves and

    Read More

More about Machismo and Latin American Men

Open Document