For the most part, when machismo happens in a conversation, individuals are more averse to ridicule or laud an individual's conduct. Machismo regularly alludes to when men are frequently celebrating manliness in a predominant and compromising way. Men who tend to act such as this repute all the feminine principles to feel safe in their virility, occasionally going to outrageous lengths to protect their manly depiction. Whereas this kind of behavior is pervasive everywhere among men, it is improperly related to the way of life of Latin Americans.
Throughout the generation’s machismo is intentionally carried down by generation to the son by the male authoritative figure. This also goes to show that many Latin American men want sons, so they have a male to continue their way of life. In doing so women become objects and animals being bred to uphold the wishes of their partners. Most women do not even consent to have another child they are threatened, raped, and forced causing these for becoming normality in society. This topic stood out to me tremendously because although I may not be from Latin American culture, but machismo is still common across the globe.
I have experienced it multiple times throughout my childhood, for example, I know of those in my family who have been abused and no one seems to pay any mind until it starts to affect someone else's life, Or those who have been degraded because they are a “women” and they should not be doing something that involves a “man's” work/help. Growing up with a conservative family you were taught that a woman's job was to take care of the kids, cook, clean, and have dinner ready before your partner comes home. Even to this day I challenge my family on what they do or say because it is 2019 and we respect women and their choices in life.
Those whom practice the 'machismo lifestyle' claim they need to exhibit their virility to the world continuously. This is commonly accomplished through forceful conduct among other men, women are likewise viewed as objects, and the more women are enticed, the manlier men tend to feel. The resources I choose to use helped process to struggles women in Latin American go through daily. Machismo is common in over half of the population of Latin America according to the ELAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) issued a report stating that “60% of the Latin American men view the father as the “indisputable head” of the household”, (Machismo and its Effects, 2005), the men do not necessarily have to be the father they can be the male authoritative figure of the family.
Challenging the man of the can cause the women to be violated and abused. Therefore no one challenges what they say to remain safe and over time it has become the normality in Latin American society causing their children to be brought up this way. Those whom practice the 'machismo lifestyle' claim they need to exhibit their virility to the world continuously. This is commonly accomplished through forceful conduct among other men.
To men “women are like shotguns; they should be kept loaded [pregnant] and indoors”, (Goolsby Jr., 13), in addition depicting that women are treated like animals that are constantly being breaded and mistreated by men. The more women are enticed, the manlier men tend to feel. For Maria who lived in El Salvador experienced gang violence and abuse throughout her childhood. Only at 12 years of age Maria became pregnant by a gang member who threated her family if she did not elope with him. This exhibits that men must be extremely desperate of losing their masculinity however, they believe they must constantly justify to others that they are a genuine macho.
While violent behavior is basic among men, it erroneously corresponds with the Latin American culture. Certain men and society everywhere applaud this form of behavior thus urging men to continue to carry on these actions of being a 'macho man'. These types of men think that they appear weak if they give in or change, and macho men are unable to show emotion. What men believe they do by behaving aggressively by standing their ground, sleeping with as many women as possible, portraying that all these attributes characterize machismo. In my resource Violence against Resources, the reading talks about the aspect of physical abuse and the author simply states that men are vulnerable an inadequate, this is essentially what is being portrayed.
Many women in politics in Latin America try to advocate for sexual and physical abuse against women. They try to get more women to report abuse but “only 6% of women in El Salvador reported abuse to the authorities in 2017”, (Bott, 186), implying that most women are terrified of speaking up in fear of their life from the abuser or in the Latin American society it has become such a norm that it is now imbedded in their brains that that is their way of life now so in addition it becomes apart of their culture. When men start drinking it also “increases women’s risk of experiencing intimate partner violence”, (Bott,186), which is why I now understand when women are afraid of men when they have had too much to drink. In addition, any women are raped and abused by their significant other and “in 14 different Latin American countries a man may legally rape his wife or fiancée”, (Allen, 299), this goes to show that these men do not value what women have to say. If a woman were to speak up to their partner about her values in life, she may end up being beaten the death.
Latin America men belittle women due to having dreams, values, and ambition. The women must carry the weight of being the caretakers of the house and the family they may or may not have wanted. Having a wife in Latin America is like a state of power to society due to the fact that they have someone who obeys them and who they are in control of. I believe that the women who suffer from machismo, their bodies start to slowly wither away due to the cruel inequality and femicide of women.
I picked this topic because I wanted to get insight on what a Latin American woman endures daily. Although machismo is commonly associated with the Latin American culture it is global. The start of overcoming machismo is to first stop managing individuals’ emotions and actions, second stop threatening significant others. Although threatening someone is not physical abuse its emotional abuse at a certain extent. These goals to overcoming machismo may not be easy to achieve but over time little change will occur, causing more women to standup for themselves; it all has to start somewhere.
