Machismo

To provide a straightforward definition for the word machismo is to misunderstand its meaning in U.S. Hispanic culture. Imported from Mexico, the term within U.S. Hispanic studies remains unstable, a paradox of affect. It can, and frequently does, define detrimental deviant male behavior: an overbearing man, a brute, a lout, a proud and violent hombre (man), the type of man who wears tight trousers and struts publicly to boast his bulge. The term can also invoke positive connotations.

Machismo can be a source of strength, an energy for cultural resistance, and a set of values keeping U.S. Hispanic men working long hours to fulfill a set of obligations that define them as men. Machismo has often driven a man to speak out, to remain loyal to family, and, as the famed folklorist Americo Paredes has written, inspired many a man to stand proud “with his pistol in his hand.”

Nevertheless, before exploring the historical and sociological history of machismo, it is useful to provide a working definition of the word as used in the United States. One of the earliest definitions of the word came from psychoanalyst Aniceto Aramoni, who in 1965 defined machismo as “the expression of exaggerated masculine characteristics, ranging from male genital powers to towering pride and fearlessness. It is also a specific counter phobic attitude toward women.”

Aramoni argues that machismo (male chauvinism) is essentially a cultural display of hypermasculinity by Mexican men and that it “is a uniquely Mexican answer—albeit a disturbed one—to the universal quest for individuation, dignity and relatedness.” Furthermore, Aramoni claims that machismo is not an exclusively Mexican trait, but that numerous cultures around the world have grappled with masculinity and the meaning of manhood at different points in their history.

According to Mexican folklorist and ethnographer Vincent T. Mendoza, the word macho was not widely used in Mexico until the 1940s. Before then, hypermasculine behavior was described in terms of degree: a man was called un verdadero hombre (a real man) or muy hombre (very manly). The general Mexican public began to use the word “macho” after Manuel Avila Camacho became president of Mexico (1940–46). It was after the presidential elections that the word began to appear in corridos (folk ballads) in part because “macho” rhymed easily with Camacho, and because Mexico was still recovering from the Mexican Revolution (1910–20) and the songs championed a strong national leader.