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			'''''Machismo''''' is a noun of Spanish origin, and refers to a prominently exhibited or excessive ]. It may be said to be ] ] with the concepts of "braggadocio" and "]," in so far as both can be used to refer to men who perceive themselves as being superior to women in almost every respect. The word ''machismo''—and its derivatives ''machista'' and '''''macho''''', "he who espouses ''machismo''"—comes from the ] word ''macho'', meaning "male" or "manly". (The word ''macho'' literally translates as "]", but is applied primarily to animals in this sense.)
			In ] ''macho'' can sometimes mean "]" or "]", although ''machista'' rarely has such positive connotations.

			As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme ]. Many ''machistas'' also believe it is their right as men to seek extramarital relationships, although women are to remain faithful. ''Machistas'' believe that women were created to stay home and be ]s and ]. Thus, most ''machistas'' believe firmly in the superiority of ] over ].
	==] analysis of the terms ''macho'' and ''machismo''==
	<blockquote>
	'''machismo'''.

	1. m. Actitud de prepotencia de los varones respecto de las mujeres.

	–'']''
	</blockquote>

	'''Machismo''' is defined by the '']'' (21st edition) as "an arrogant (''prepotente'') attitude by men towards women." '']'' defines it as an "an attitude that considers the masculine sex to be superior to the feminine." '']'' offers the following interpretation: "machismo, ]; exaltation of ], he-manship." '']'' (fourth edition) translates ''machismo'' as: "the quality of being a male; proven daring; male chauvinism." '']'' (SOED) (1993 edition) defines it as: "The quality of being macho; male ], masculine ]; a show of this." ]'s (AHD) fourth edition definition is more elaborate:

			Some acts of ] against women have been committed by men who consider themselves superior to women, whereby the doctrine of ''machista'' such violence may often be called appropriate or justified.
	<blockquote>
	1. A strong or exaggerated sense of masculinity stressing attributes such as physical ], virility, ] of women, and ]. 2. An exaggerated sense of strength or toughness.
	</blockquote>

			The most common Spanish term for a woman with exaggerated feminine pride is ''feminista'' (as in "]"), although some Spanish speakers prefer the female equivalent of ''macho'': ''hembra'' ("female" in Spanish), as in "''Yo soy muy macho, pero tú eres muy hembra"'' (I am very ''macho'', but you are very ''hembra''). Today, both ''feminista'' and ''hembra'' are widely used in modern Spanish. In Hispanic cultures, women who display male-like characteristics or interests, are also identified. In English-speaking cultures, these women are typically called '']s''. In Mexico, the term used for this type of woman is ''mari-macha'' (i.e. both Maria and Macho).
	] gives the same overall meaning as do the SOED and AHD , however, it is–among the dictionaries consulted–unique in attributing to ''machismo'' a "Mid-20th century" "]" origin. The 100 million-word ] corroborates ''Encarta's'' ] but gives no clear indication of ''machismo's'' original ] provenance. ] Miguel Velasco Valdés's ''Repertorio de voces populares en ]'' (]) defines ''machismo'' and ''macho'' respectively as:

	<blockquote>''Alarde de hombría, desplante de valor a veces fingido.''</blockquote>

	<blockquote>A display of manliness, a brave posture at times as a bluff.</blockquote>

	<blockquote>''Formal, valeroso, con entereza; ser muy macho consiste en afrontar virilmente todas las contingencias.''</blockquote>

	<blockquote>Correct, courageous, with uprightness; to be ''muy macho'' means confronting any danger with manly courage.</blockquote>

	It will be noted that Valdés's definitions diverge in important ways from the general ] pattern presented so far, where in the other examples the word ''machismo'' has a(n) (at least partially) negative ], in Valdés the sense is entirely positive, even ], the only negative note being that sounded by the "false" ''machismo'' of the bluffer, the braggadocio (] Paredes - ]).

	(Valdés does not say how, where, or why such meanings developed, though he does indicate that all the words in the ] are in ''"uso común y corriente en el medio mexicano"'' ).

	Unlike the ''Repertorio'', the ''Diccionario del español usual en México'' (1996 edition) does conform to the previous definitional pattern, however, the extensive space and emphasis it gives to the "virilist" sense of the ] ''macho'' has no parallel in ''any'' of the works so far cited, further strenghtening the link between the word ''machismo'' and (a certain) Mexican ] ]:

	<blockquote>
	''...2 Hombre que considera al sexo masculino como naturalmente superior al femenino, exalta las características tradicionalmente atribuidas a los hombres y pretende imponerse y dominar a las mujeres o demostrar su fuerza, su virilidad, etc, ante ellas u otros hombres: macho mexicano, «¡Aguántese como los machos!» 3 Que es valiente, fuerte o tiene alguna de las características que tradicionalmente se atribuyen a los hombres: «¡Yo soy muy macho, hijos de la chingada!», una mujer muy macha 4 A lo macho (Coloq) Sin engaños ni mentiras, con valentía: «-¿Me lo dice usted a lo macho?» 5 Hombre, especialmente cuando se quiere destacar su sexualidad: «Regresó convertido en un macho alto y fuerte»...''
	<br /><br />
	...2 A man who considers the masculine sex as naturally superior to the feminine, glorifies those traits traditionally ascribed to men and seeks to control and dominate women or to demonstrate his strength, virility, etc., to them and to other men: Mexican ''macho'', "Take it like the ''machos''!" 3 Someone who is brave, strong or demonstrates some of the traits traditionally ascribed to men: "I am very ''macho'', sons of the ]!", a very ''macha'' woman 4 ''A lo macho'' (coloq.) without guile or trickery, with bravery: "Are you telling it to me ''a lo macho''?" 5 A man, specially when seeking to emphasize his sexuality: "He came back made a ''macho'' tall and strong"...
	</blockquote>

	== The ] of Mexican ''Machismo'' ==

	The ] and essayist ] (]-1998) in his fundamentally influential book-length essay ''El Laberinto de la Soledad''
	(]), makes the following characterizations about the Mexican ''macho'':

	<blockquote>''El chingón es el macho, el que abre. La chingada, la hembra, la pasividad pura, inerme ante el exterior. La relación entre ambos es violenta, determinada por el poder cínico del primero y la impotencia de la otra. La idea de violación rige oscuramente todos los significados.'' (] 1975 edition - pg. 85).</blockquote>

	<blockquote>The '']'' is the ''macho'', the one who opens. The ''chingada'', the female, pure passivity, defenseless against what is outside . The relationship between the two is violent, defined/determined by the cynical power of the first and the helplessness of the other. A sense of rape/violation holds secret sway over all the(se) meanings.</blockquote>

	<blockquote>''El "macho" es el Gran Chingón. Una palabra resume la agresividad, impasibilidad, invulnerabilidad, uso descarnado de la violencia...del "macho": poder. La fuerza, pero desligada de toda noción de orden: el poder arbitrario, la voluntad sin freno y sin cauce.'' (] - pg. 89).</blockquote>

	<blockquote>The ''macho'' is the ''Gran Chingón''. One word summarizes the aggressivity, impassivity, invulnerability, the raw violence...of the ''macho'': power. Force, but loosed from all notions of order: arbitrary power, will without form or limit .</blockquote>

	<blockquote>''...el atributo esencial del "macho", la fuerza, se manifiesta...como la capacidad de herir, rajar, aniquilar, humillar. Náda mas natural...que su indiferencia frente a la prole que engendra...Es el poder, aislado en su misma potencia, sin relación ni compromiso con el mundo exterior. Es la incomunicación pura, la soledad que se devora a sí misma y devora lo que toca...Es el extraño.'' (Ibid - pg. 90).</blockquote>

	<blockquote>...the essential quality of the ''macho'', force/strength , manifests itself...as the ability to hurt, rip, destroy, humiliate. Nothing is more natural...than his indifference towards the progeny ]] he sires ...He is power, isolated in its potency, neither connected to nor compromised by the outside world. He is pure incommunicability, the solitude that devores itself and all that it touches...He is the outsider/stranger .</blockquote>

	<blockquote>''Es imposible no advertir la semejanza que guarda la figura del "macho" con la del conquistador español.'' (Ibid - pg. 90).</blockquote>

	<blockquote>It is impossible not to notice the latent similarities between the figure of the ''macho'' and the Spanish '']''.</blockquote>

	<blockquote>''La figura del padre se bifurca en la dualidad de patriarca y de macho. El macho es el hombre terrible, el chingón, el padre...que ha abandonado mujer e hijos. La imagen de la autoridad mexicana se inspira en estos dos extremos: el Señor Presidente y el Caudillo.'' (Ibid - pg. 330).</blockquote>

	<blockquote>The figure of the father divides into the duality of the '']'' and the ''macho''. The ''macho'' is a man to be feared , the ''chingón'', the father...who has abandoned his wife and children. The image/notion of Mexican authority is modeled on these two extremes: the '']'' and the ].</blockquote>

	'']'' scholar ] (]-1999), in a ] entitled "The United States, Mexico, and Machismo" (],1971), argues that during the ] ] the ] term ''machismo'' became the ''de facto'' word for describing a set of restored and redefined patriarchal assumptions by and about Mexicans. Using both the traditional '']'' and more recent Mexican popular art forms to measure the phenomenon of lexical change, Paredes concludes that up until the ] a group of alternately-rooted words (e.g. ''bravo'', ''hombre'', ''hombría'', ''hombre de verdad'', ''valentía'', ''valeroso'', ''valiente'') was still commonly used to describe a web of masculine attitudes and behaviors that ('']'') would increasingly be described as (or qualified with) ''macho'' and ''machismo'' by Mexicans, and subsequently by other ] ] and ] alike. Paredes gives as a key reason for this ] shift in ] the brutal(izing) masculine rivalries enacted during the ], but leaves at least partially unresolved (from the perspective of this article) the near simultaneous '']'' of the acceptation across other, more distant parts of the hispanophone and allophone worlds (cf ''Corpus del Español'').

	When removed from a specifically ] cultural context ''machismo'' (]: machist, machoism) becomes ] ]-] with "(male) braggardism," "male chauvinism," "] of masculinity," "male dominance," "]," "]," "]," and "];" in ] it has at times been subsumed within certain ] and ] concepts, such as "]," "]," "]," "]," "]," as well as incorporated into ] and ] critiques of ]. The term "machismo ]," first used by ] Andre Simic in his study of the ] ] (Simic - ]), has at times been applied in describing a ] social-sexual relationship of ] interdependence between persons of any ](cf ] - 1950; ], ] - ]; Prieur - 1998).

	In a more culture-specific context the concept acquires significant complexity and subtlety. The term ''machismo'' is normally not ] used in Spanish other than in a ] way, the term itself being the topic. This is because the word is extraneous to the traditional ] repertoire Spanish-speakers have historically relied on when discussing concepts relating to masculinity and ]. The ] '']''’s (], ]) entry for ''macho'' is concerned principally with forming sexo-lexical distinctions relevant to ], agriculture and ]; the article does mention that men can be considered ''macho'', but the sense is limited to the practical and ], consisting of physical and temperamental attributes that, by simply being, place no ] restrictions (or demands) on ]:

	<blockquote>
	''Todo lo que es fuerte llamamos macho, como hombre macho y machucho. Vino macho, el vino fuerte.''
	<br /><br />
	Everything that is strong we call ''macho'', like ''macho'' man and ''machucho'' . ''Macho'' wine, strong wine
	</blockquote>

	Thus there is nothing in the ''Tesoro''’s definition to suggest the term then held the kind of overt ], ], or male-supremacist connotations it does today. Moreover, the example of ''machucho'' indicates that it was not only possible in ] ] for an ''hombre macho'' to be prudent, judicious, and circumspect, it was seen as natural and expected; such a conception of ''macho''-ness hardly fits the current ] of the "]-drunk" "macho man," if anything, it contradicts and works ] against it.

	Although, as has been indicated, the word ''machismo'' itself did not exist in 17th century Spain the ] and ] patterns defined by it did, and to the extent they were recognized by ] as requiring definition and formal expression they were given semantic coherence and lexical form; the results of such a process are often referred to as a group's "linguistic culture," the linguistic culture that gave rise to the term ''machismo'' remains largely intact in much of the hispanophone world.

	== Machismo around the world ==		== Machismo around the world ==

Revision as of 14:14, 25 October 2006

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

For other uses, see Machismo (disambiguation).

Machismo is a noun of Spanish origin, and refers to a prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. It may be said to be ideologically synonymous with the concepts of "braggadocio" and "male chauvinism," in so far as both can be used to refer to men who perceive themselves as being superior to women in almost every respect. The word machismo—and its derivatives machista and macho, "he who espouses machismo"—comes from the Spanish word macho, meaning "male" or "manly". (The word macho literally translates as "male", but is applied primarily to animals in this sense.) In Spanish macho can sometimes mean "courageous" or "valorous", although machista rarely has such positive connotations.

As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme masculism. Many machistas also believe it is their right as men to seek extramarital relationships, although women are to remain faithful. Machistas believe that women were created to stay home and be mothers and wives. Thus, most machistas believe firmly in the superiority of men over women.

Some acts of domestic violence against women have been committed by men who consider themselves superior to women, whereby the doctrine of machista such violence may often be called appropriate or justified.

The most common Spanish term for a woman with exaggerated feminine pride is feminista (as in "feminist"), although some Spanish speakers prefer the female equivalent of macho: hembra ("female" in Spanish), as in "Yo soy muy macho, pero tú eres muy hembra" (I am very macho, but you are very hembra). Today, both feminista and hembra are widely used in modern Spanish. In Hispanic cultures, women who display male-like characteristics or interests, are also identified. In English-speaking cultures, these women are typically called tomboys. In Mexico, the term used for this type of woman is mari-macha (i.e. both Maria and Macho).

Machismo around the world

Machismo, of course is not only a feature of Hispanic culture.

Depending on the country, machistas are viewed with disdain. In Mexico, many men consider it an honor to be called a machista. The Mexican/Dominican actor Andrés García has long been pointed to as a typical example of the Mexican machista man. In Peru, talk show host Laura Bozzo (Laura en América) spends a good number of her shows exposing machista men and teaching them a lesson.

In many cultures, from Latin America to Korea to countries of the Muslim world, machismo is acceptable and even expected. In 2004, the Spanish government and Spanish media began to take on the entire concept of machismo, linking it directly to a spate of notorious domestic violence crimes perpetrated by men against their own wives or female companions.

In American literature, a memorable example of machismo comes from Tennessee Williams' character Stanley Kowalski, the egotistical brother-in-law in A Streetcar Named Desire. In the play (and in the motion picture), Stanley epitomises the hyper-masculine alpha male, socially and physically dominating and imposing his will upon his wife and her sister, Blanche Dubois. Bound up with Stanley's aggressive and occasionally misogynist views is a strong sense of pride and honor which leads to his hatred of Blanche.

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