Machismo

The term machismo has been used in a variety of ways to mean different, sometimes contradictory things. It is typically associated with Latin American men as an imputation of negative character traits related to masculinity. The American Heritage Dictionary defines machismo as a strong or exaggerated sense of masculinity stressing attributes such as physical courage, virility, domination of women, aggressiveness, and an exaggerated sense of strength and toughness. The Diccionario de la Real Academia Española, 21st edition, defines machismo as “an arrogant (prepotencia) attitude by men towards women.”

Machismo—the idea of being macho—appears to be embedded in matters pertaining to the roles, statuses, rights, responsibilities, influence, and moral positions of men as they relate to women. The principal characteristics of machismo are exaggerated aggressiveness and intransigence in male-to-male relationships and arrogance and sexual aggression in male-to-female relationships. In a broader cultural context, machismo may be associated with male chauvinism, which the Oxford Dictionary defines as male prejudice against women and the regarding of women as inferior to men.

Whether the notion of machismo originated in Latino culture is debatable. Some social scientists argue that the term was coined by ethnographers studying Latino cultures and then became part of the Latino lexicon. At any rate, while the male attributes associated with machismo are universal, the term in the popular as well as the scholarly literature is often explicitly connected with Latino culture.

According to the Dictionary of Mexican Cultural Code Words, machismo means (a) rejecting so-called feminine characteristics, such as unselfishness and kindness; (b) being willing to lie; (c) being suspicious and jealous; and (d) being willing to fight or even to kill to protect an image of manliness. Proof of being a man, in this definition, includes dominating the family, having sexual relations with anyone one chooses, and never showing one's real feelings. Jerry Tello, cofounder of the National Compadres Network in the United States, says that this negative—and typically American—view of machismo is uninformed. According to Tello, a true man in Latin America is someone who carries respect, responsibility, and honor. This latter notion of machismo harks back to pre-Columbian times, when to be a man meant respecting sacred things and people, including women. Such a man was considered in that cultural tradition to be an hombre noble—an honorable man.

In most societies, female and male roles are considered complementary; in Hispanic cultures, machismo refers to essentially male or masculine attributes and behaviors, while hembrismo pertains to matters feminine. Some writers note that just as machismo may be seen as an exaggerated sense of masculinity, hembrismo is the feminine quality of being excessively submissive and subservient to men. The two concepts must be considered in concert.

It is evident that there are contradictions within the range of matters that pertain to machismo. Definitions of machismo may be placed on a grid, where one axis represents “self-confidence” and the intersecting axis represents “self-doubt.” On the former axis are attributes such as honor, shame, formality, and respect. [Page 864]The self-doubt axis comprises characteristics pertinent to inferiority and insecurity. Thus, where males feel that they are not in control regarding power relationships and matters involving prestige, they put on a façade of “in your face” masculinity to obscure any possible personal shortcomings. The popular conception of machismo tends to consider only the self-doubt axis, and discussions of machismo consequently exaggerate the negative attributes of machismo.

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