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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. In many cultures, machismo is acceptable and even expected.

The trait may be seen as the product of runaway evolution, as Frits Staal notes,

The peacock's tail, the grotesquely enlarged claw of the male fiddler crab and the machismo of members of the human species are all exaggerated features that may cause injury to individuals that display them but attract females.

In literature

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.

In Spanish

The English word machismo is borrowed from the Spanish word machismo, which is derived from Spanish macho, meaning "male " or, when used metaphorically, "virile". It refers exclusively to the belief that males should dominate. As such, it means "sexism" or "male chauvinism" (along with the Spanish adjective machista, "sexist" or "male chauvinist"). The same happens in Portuguese. In both Spanish and English, macho can mean "masculine" or "very masculine", but occasionally the English use of macho means the same as "machista", i.e., "male chauvinist".

Notes

1. Staal, Noam Chomsky Between the Human and Natural Sciences, Janus Head (2001)
2. Online Etymology Dictionary's entry for "machismo"
3. Entry for machismo at the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy
4. Entry for macho at dictionary.com

• Gender
• Human behavior