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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" originates in an identical Spanish word, which however has a rather different meaning. Spanish machismo refers exclusively to the belief that males should dominate, that is it means "sexism" or "male chauvinism" (along with the Spanish adjective machista, "sexist" or "male chauvinist"). Machismo itself derives from macho, meaning "male " or, when used metaphorically, "masculine" or "very masculine".

Notes

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

• Gender
• Human behavior