1. MASCULINITY AND MACHISMO:
AN IN DEPTH EXAMINATION OF CULTURAL MASCULINITY AND
ITS IMPLICATIONS IN LATIN CULTURES
By
Sarah Vogt
Senior Seminar
Anth 4980
5/7/2015

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ABSTRACT
This paper examines the term and understanding of masculinity across
Latin cultures and in the United States. The status symbol of being masculine
Latin societies is defined as Machismo. The pressure of trying to adhere to the
rigid definition of manliness in these societies with the changing definition of
masculinity and the acculturation to a more western liberal mindset causes both
mental and manifested physical stress. I will also discuss the biological and
cultural explanations for the prevalence of masculinity.
Keywords: Masculinity, Latin America, Machismo, Acculturation
Introduction:
The determiners of masculinity vary and take on different definitions
regarding the cultures in which it is presented. These definitions are structured
around a dichotomous view point in regards to the way in which men and women
are examined. In many instances masculinity is defined by what feminine is and
taking the opposite angle. The level of masculinity is on a continuum and
displays differently in individuals given the context culture and individual.
Masculinity takes on a rigid definition when applied to Latin cultures specifically

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regarded as “Machisomo”. The determiners and the prevalence of masculinity
and machismo are the result from both culture and biology, exemplifying the unity
between nature and nurture. In Latin cultures where machismo is socialized into
men from a young age there has been a deleterious effect towards self-identity
with the changing culture due to immigration, acculturation into western societies,
racism, and poverty. These changes in culture and identity struggles create a
psychological strain on Latino men that results in aggression rather than
depressive action due to the coping mechanisms learned through socialization.
Masculinity:
Masculinity is defined as the possession of the qualities traditionally
associated with men. This definition is ambiguous in that the “qualities
traditionally associated with men” can vary extraordinarily depending on culture.
Even specific cultures can be labeled as masculine or feminine. In order for a

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culture to be identified as masculine on the Hofstede scale they include:
assertiveness, materialism/material success, self-centeredness, power, strength,
and individual achievements. “Masculinity stands for a society in which social
gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and
focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender,
and concerned with the quality of life.” (See Appendix 1) In many cultures,
manliness or masculinity is not a trait one is born with, but rather something that
must be achieved. Once achieved, masculinity cannot be taken for granted and
is a quality one can lose. The constant pressure of losing status can create both
mental stress that manifests physically. Depending on the avenue one takes to
procure masculinity, one may view the social status attributed as less precarious.
For instance, if in a man’s community creative works and intelligence are
examples of masculinity and helps obtain status, the question of his “manliness”
may provoke less anxiety because these traits are not typically associated with
masculinity. However, if the avenue for obtaining status includes playing football

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or being in the military, one may feel more anxiety and may trigger retaliation
behaviors because of the masculine nature of the way in which masculinity was
attained (B. Winegard).
Biological Basis for Masculinity
In Richard Udry’s article Biological Limits of Gender Construction, he
examines in-sex differences in females. Udry uses the biological model current
in primatology in order to show how these sex differences are expressed
because of hormonal variances from gestation to adulthood (after three
decades), which shape gendered behavior. He also highlights that environment
and socialization further shape behavior and variance in hormonal exposure can
alter the effect of socialization. “This basic hormone model shows that in this
sample, mothers’ prenatal hormones have an effect on the gendered behavior of
the daughters three decades later. The effect of prenatal testosterone is picked

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up by variance in prenatal SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin). So SHBG is
treated as an inverse measure of testosterone exposure because the more
SHBG in the mother, the less testosterone gets through to the daughter. SHBG
has no effects on behavior except through binding testosterone. The more
SHBG, the less testosterone effect and thus the more feminine the woman’s
behavior in adulthood. There is also a significant main effect of adult
testosterone. The interaction of prenatal testosterone and adult testosterone
shows that the more prenatal testosterone, the smaller the masculinizing effect of
adult testosterone on gendered behavior. The model explains about 16 percent
of the variance in gendered behavior” (Udry).
According to Benjamin Winegard “men whose manhood is threatened
react with a variety of compensatory behaviors and cognitions such as
aggression, support for hierarchy, low tolerance for homosexuality, and support
for war” (B. Winegard). He further mentions that because man evolved in

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dominance hierarchies they will display honest strength to dissuade fighting as
well as display traits that create coalitions. The traits he describes include
anything from physical prowess, aggression, and intelligence to empathy.
Masculinity in the United States
In the United States, historically, the popular perspective on masculinity
contains such traits as assertiveness, obsession with achievement and success,
individualism, status, aggression, toughness, winning, restricted emotionality and
affectionate behavior, concerns about power, control, and competition, and
homophobia (Torres).
In Joseph Plecks 1981 book The Myth of Masculinity, he describes and
demonstrates a method that was used for the previous fifty years called the
“Gender Role Identity Paradigm”. This paradigm suggests that people have a

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biological and psychological need to develop a gender role identity. The way an
individual embraces their traditional gender role determines how well the need is
“met”. The paradigm said that the inability to achieve a masculine gender-role
would result in “homosexuality, negative attitudes towards women, or hyper
masculinity” (Levant) (Pleck). Pleck includes in his book that this paradigm is
inadequate and instead introduces “Pleck’s Gender Role Strain Paradigm”. He
proposes that “gender roles are contradictory and inconsistent; that the
proportion of persons who violate gender roles is high; that violation of gender
roles leads to condemnation and negative psychological consequences; that
actual or imagined violation of gender roles leads people to over conform to
them; that violating gender roles has more severe consequences for males than
for females”. In his paradigm, Pleck explains that gender roles are prescribed
and imposed on the developing children by teachers, peers, and parents and that
the notions of “masculinity” and “femininity” are subject to change and socially
constructed (Levant).

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Based upon this literature, Levant proposed seven male role norms: avoiding
femininity, restrictive emotionality, seeking achievement and status, self-reliance,
aggression, homophobia, and non-relational attitudes towards sexuality (Levant).
In today’s society, adults attribute what their gendered roles should exemplify
based upon how they were socialized. “Raised to be like their fathers, they were
mandated to become the good provider for their families, and to be strong and
silent. They were discouraged from expressing vulnerable and tender emotions,
and required to put a sharp edge around their masculinity by avoiding anything
that hinted of the feminine” (Levant).
Machismo
Machismo is defined by Jose B. Torres as the complex interaction of social,
cultural, and behavioral components forming male gender-role identity in the

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sociopolitical context of the Latino society (Torres). The term Machismo has
developed a negative connotation. The word comes from the Spanish word
macho, which means strongly masculine or assertive man. The word Machismo
in Spanish has a larger meaning than has been attributed to it as used in English.
In English, Machismo is generally seen as male dominance, aggression,
patriarchy, authoritarianism, and oppressive behavior toward women and
children. However, in Spanish, the term Machismo can have a much more
positive meaning to include emphasis on self-respect and on responsibility for
protecting and providing for the family, as well as bravery, strength, integrity,
honor, reliability, and moral soundness. The word macho, developing two
separate meanings and connotations depending on the language used or
spoken, will be discussed later in the cultural section.
History of Machismo

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Latino men adhere to and proliferate the negative connotations associated
with machismo that make life difficult for female partners. When machismo is
exaggerated, alcoholism, infidelity, domestic violence, minimal involvement in
child rearing, and abandonment of partners and family are expressed as
dysfunction and destructive consequence (Torres). Boys are socialized from a
young age to adhere to the attitudes of their fathers. This socialization leads to
the mandation to become strong, silent, and the providers for their families.
These boys are discouraged from displaying emotions considered vulnerable.
These young men receive little to no training or socialization in regards to child
rearing, like their sisters. From a young age, these boys are also expected to
denounce the reliance on their mothers and accept their psychologically and
often physically absent fathers (Levant).
Latin Culture Influence and Machismo

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Puerto Rico
Male gender-socialization process and view of masculinity has historically
emphasized bravery, strength, male dominance, honor, virility, aggression, and
autonomy. There are multiple stereotypes attributed to machismo in Puerto
Rican culture because of the inconsistent, contradictory, superficial, and negative
mental health literature definitions. These stereotypes include physical
aggression, sexual promiscuity, insecurity, alcohol abuse, spousal violence, and
other oppressions of women, irresponsible behavior, immaturity, feelings of
inferiority, latent homosexuality, narcissistic personality, ambivalence toward
women, and sexual anxiety. As mentioned earlier, the word machismo takes on
separate meanings depending on the language used. In English, machismo
tends to depict a more negative connotation because it does not represent the
same array of traits that it does in Spanish. This difference in associations
highlights the importance of how we use language in a culture. It is a Spanish
word and when adopted into the English language, it lost over half of its meaning,

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including the entire positive aspect. By doing so, many English speakers now
have an existing stereotype seeded in their minds due to the misunderstanding
or misrepresentation of a word. Machismo is deeply rooted and tied with Puerto
Rican culture, so when trying to acculturate into the United States each male
individual carries that stereotype with them. The concept of respeto or respect
largely manages many personal relationships, and affects dictates behavior
towards them. This goverance effects the relationship with older people, parents,
and relatives “on the basis of age, socioeconomic positions, and authority” (
(Torres). The idea of respeto and dignidad (dignity) and the obtainment of both,
is a part of machismo that largely determines how Latino males function within
the family, the community, and the culture as a whole.
The Crisis of Masculinity
The socialization of Latino men to fit the machismo model is passed down
from father to son, and encouraged by mothers. There is an importance of

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providing for the family and friends, looking out for them, solving their problems,
being counted on to be there when needed, and fulfilling the requirements of this
attitude despite the growing critic against machismo. Through the evolving
culture and positive women’s liberation movements, some of these Latino men
feel there is no longer a need for the traits that once deemed them masculine
and are imperative for developing social status. Levant says, “society no longer
seems to value, or even recognize the traditional male way of demonstrating
care. . . men are being asked to take on roles and show care in ways that violate
the traditional male code and require skills they do not have, such as nurturing
children, revealing weakness, and expressing their most intimate feelings. The
net result of this for many men is a loss of self-esteem and an unnerving sense of
uncertainty about what it means to be a man” (Levant). Puerto Ricans make up
the second largest group of Latino’s in the United States, and they have specific
cultural traits and values that reflect their heritage. As mentioned above, the idea
of machismo is largely attached to Puerto Rican men, and with it carries the

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negative stereotype assigned from the English idea of the word. Compared to
other Latino groups in the United States, Puerto Rican unemployment is highest.
The shifting idea of masculinity coupled with the inability to obtain employment
(which ability to provide for one’s family is a large factor in determining
masculinity for a Puerto Rican male) causes severe psychological stress. This
stress causes many men to experience guilt, inadequacy, and emasculation from
the fear of not being able to live up to one’s perceived “male-role” (Torres)
Mental effects on men from Latin cultures
The behavioral reactions from many of the Puerto Rican men that
experience psychological strains such as: immigration, acculturation, racism, and
poverty tends to be aggressive due to their socialization in coping mechanisms.
“Perhaps manhood takes on a greater importance for those who do not have
access to socially valued roles. Being male is one sure way to acquire status

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when other roles are systematically denied by the workings of society” (Baca-
Zinn). Some of the aggressive tendencies seen include drinking, gambling,
fighting, and promiscuity. Torres suggests that these are manifestations of
attempts to maintain manhood (Torres). With the inability to find employment,
many Puerto Rican men’s masculinity and dignity is questioned. In attempts to
recover their dignidad and respeto a lot of men engage in this aggressive
behavior.
Conclusion:
Traditional cultural socialization coupled with biological factors towards
masculinity in different cultures presents a growing issue in many Latin societies;
predominantly Puerto Rican immigrants into the United States. Young boys are
taught to have machismo and hyper-masculinity in a time where the traits
associated with machismo are becoming less valuable and frowned upon. Not
only are these men trying to cope with the changing culture, a trait they were

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raised to have and exuberate denotes negative connotations within the English
speaking world in which many are trying to acculturate. This emotional struggle
has started to manifest physically in displays of aggression and other avenues of
perceptual “manliness”. It is imperative to facilitate the conversation on how to
enable men facing this difficulty to cope with this emotional turmoil.
Appendix 1

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WORKS CITED
B. Winegard, B. Winegard, D.C. Geary. "Eastwood's brawn and Einstein's brain: An
Evolutionary Account of Dominance, Prestige, and Precarious Manhood." Review
of General Psychology (2014).
Baca-Zinn, M. "Chicano men and masculinity." Journal of Ethnic Studies (1982): 20-44.
Levant, Ronald F. "Toward the Reconstruction of Masculinity." Journal of Family
Psychology (1992): 379-398.
Pleck, Joseph H. The Myth of Masculinity. The MIT Press, 1981.
Torres, Jose B. "Masculintiy and Gender Roles Among Puerto Rican Men: Machismo on
the U.S. Mainland." Clinical (1998): 16-26.
Udry, Richard J. "Biological Limits of Gender Construction." American Sociological
Review (2000): 443-457.