How does machismo influence Latin American society?

Machismo is a term that refers to a social behaviour pattern in which the Latino male exhibits an overbearing attitude to anyone he deems inferior to him, demanding complete subservience. It has been a fundamental aspect rooted in Latin American culture and has had, and continues to have, a huge influence on Hispanic society today.

Machismo can be seen influencing dictatorships throughout recent history. During the 20th century there were numerous dictatorships across Latin America, some of which only ended recently and all of which were instigated by men and, by the late 1970’s 17 out of 20 Latin American nations were ruled by dictators. One of the most horrific dictatorships was the Pinochet regime in Chile. This authoritarian military regime led by Augustus Pinochet ruled Chile for seventeen years between the 11th of September 1973 and the 11th of March 1990. During this period Pinochet and his army committed despicable violations of human rights against the Chilean people and caused thousands of deaths. Around 40,000 people were killed, tortured or imprisoned and many of these victims were women. It could be argued that Pinochet chose to target these women as objects in order to take power away from their husbands, emasculate them and to demonstrate his power and superiority. This trait could be seen in many Latin American dictatorships. Men came to power through brute force and retained it through instilling fear and abusing their power. I believe that this could stem from the historic machoistic culture of men having to assert their dominance over anyone they deem inferior to themselves.

Machismo played a fundamental part in past dictatorships, and it is still just as prevalent today in the huge rates of femicide in countries across Latin America. Femicide is the killing of a woman or girl, in particular by a man on account of her gender. As of 2022 the country with the highest femicide rate was El Salvador with 13.8 per 100,000 women killed by femicide. Not only are these figures extremely high, but the most shocking aspect of the murders is the fact that, according to the World Health Organization, 38% of these deaths are perpetrated by the victim’s partner. A reason behind this could be that women in this part of the world are viewed as second class citizens who are taught to put up with abuse, harassment and inequality as part of the culture. Furthermore, the justice systems in many Latin American countries are biased against these women and they are scared to come forward, fearing either that no action will be taken or even that something worse could

happen to them and they could be punished. There are several cases like this where the male perpetrators have not been sufficiently punished. In April 2021, Rocio Manilla had an extramarital affair and was subsequently killed by her husband. Her husband received less than two years in prison because he pleaded “violent emotion.” This is a prime example of why this sexist culture is not improving as women are taught to be submissive and do what their husbands say, including not reporting abuse. To add to that, the male authorities are disinclined to help these women as the justice system itself is biased in favour of men. Moreover, Hispanic culture is full of not only the macho male stereotype but also the submissive, beautiful female stereotype. This stereotypical culture means that the women keep quiet and spur on the machismo, creating a vicious cycle which is difficult to break.

However, even though moving away from this culture may be difficult it is not impossible. Laws are already being changed and put in place to better support women and prevent the violent, abusive and illegal aspects of machismo from occurring. Until recently, femicide was not recognized by the law in Mexico and the sentence was the same as a normal homicide. This demonstrates the machoistic hatred of women and their inferiority as it did not distinguish femicide - women being killed purely for being women, from normal homicide. But this law was changed in 2012, demonstrating significant progress. Acts like these are helping break the cycle of women staying silent and fighting against the culturally rooted stereotypes.

Machismo is deeply rooted in Hispanic culture and will likely stay that way. The only way for real change to occur is by men in power and in politics recognizing these issues and changing the laws to try and fix them. The question is: can this change happen?

By Georgie C (U6)