Chapter 3: Latino Machismo: History, Trends, and Cultural Ideology

“You are so machista!” Have you ever heard that phrase? Maybe you have heard someone referring to a third person as “My husband is very machista.” Usually, that term has been used with a negative connotation to refer to someone as close-minded, abusive, or utilizing male privilege. Other times the term has been used to marginalize men from the rest of male gender specie. But, what does machismo mean? Well, the term machismo refers to the male code of honor, loyalty, and ethics by which Latino males’ function and hold their identity (Orozco et al., 2014). This code of honor has been associated with the knighthood and nobility seen in European history. Nevertheless, historically, the term has been used to target men with racism, microaggressions, and oppression due to the misinterpretation of the term by the mainstream American culture. Unfortunately, this misinterpretation has attributed erroneous negative stereotypes and several misconceptions that lead to the marginalization of many Latino men (Orozco et al., 2014).