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Machismo is a prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme masculism.

Machismo around the world

Machismo is not only a feature of Hispanic culture. In Mexico, men generally 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 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.

See also

• Culture of Mexico – Family
• Black Legend, a set of negative memes about Spain
• Latin lover
• Don Juan, the Spanish archetype of the seducer
• Carmen, the Spanish archetype of the passionate woman
• Marianismo
• Testosterone poisoning

• Gender