Machismo & Being Queer
Happy Wednesday!
I was thinking a lot about how the culture of machismo really affects the LGBTQ community in Latin America. I stumbled upon this article about what that means for gay Latinos. Even though this article mainly discusses the experiences of gay Latinos, I pondered the following:
I was thinking a lot about how the culture of machismo really affects the LGBTQ community in Latin America. I stumbled upon this article about what that means for gay Latinos. Even though this article mainly discusses the experiences of gay Latinos, I pondered the following:
- How does a patriarchal society fueled by machismo affect transgender women, lesbian women, and others beyond the gay Latino community?
- How might machismo have impacted Atala's ex-husband to move forward with his actions in court against her?
- How does machismo clash with being queer? Is there a way for it to blend together with the LGBTQ community & its culture?
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Machismo is one of the many challenges that queer people face in the Latino community. For gay men, who are stereotypically portrayed as more feminine than straight men, their identities clash with a patriarchal society because of society's requirement for every man to fit into a box of 'masculinity.' This definition of masculinity excludes many trans and queer men in Latin-American communities. The stereotyped definition of femininity and women's roles in a community steeped in machismo also affects queer and trans women in the same way that LGBTQ men are affected. Machismo demands that women adhere to strict gender roles, ones which queer women may defy.
ReplyDeleteKaren Atala's ex-husband's choice to move forward with his charges in court against Atala clearly was influenced by machismo. Atala did not conform to the expected role of a dependent woman; on the contrary, Atala made an individualistic and independent life for herself. Her ex-husband's actions were motivated, at least in part, by anger, and Atala's defiance of gender roles irritated him.
Hi, Opal H. My Name is Melissa Alvarez and I agree that her ex-husband's motivation was heavily influenced by machismo. Not only was that a factor, but could you agree, that the Chilean society as a whole , specifically the courts, allowed for her role as a good mother to not be recognized ? As you stated, that due to machismo women have to adhere to these strict gender roles that define them in one category. Because, she did not qualify for either or that the courts saw her as a lesser being.
DeleteiHola mucho gusto! My name is Melissa Alvarez and I will be representing Judge Margarette May Macaulay in this conference.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, it has come to my attention that gay men feel this internal struggle for balance with trying to maintain a masculine standard perpetuated by Latino society but also trying to maintain their identity.With having this internal struggle, we as an international community must realize that machismo will not hinder those who are apart of the LGBT community, rather it is a sociocultural factor that causes new issues for LGBT. Moreover, through a sociocultural ancillary study on the patriarchal role that further ignites machismo within the Latino community, there is a negative cognitive emotional factors that come into play in the lives of participants of Hispanic origin or Latin American. They were not classified as apart of the LGBT community, however they showed a spike increase of depression symptoms, cynical hostility, and the traits of anxiety and anger. Thus, we as an international community can infer that due to machismo the queer community is most impacted with these negative factors that may impede their way of life. For example, according to the ADIL (Alianza por La Diversidad e Inclusión Laboral) in Mexico more than seventy percent of employees of the queer community situated in a work setting ( businesses, companies, high demanding jobs) are less productive, and with less productivity their company will seek out for other employers to do their job. This lost of productivity is caused by the rejection of society of losing that “masculine standard” and not being able to fully express their identity to their coworkers. Ultimately, this major loss allows for Mexico to lose more than four hundred twenty nine million dollars for making companies to fire their fellow employees for not doing their job.
As for the transgender women, lesbian women, and the rest of the gay community, this social standard of men allows for the mistreatment and sometimes death. Unfortunately,between the years of 2014-2016 there were at least two hundred and two murders of the LGBT community. Most of those murders or homicides were apart of the female-trans community. Due to machismo, Atala Riffo’s ex-husband may have had some emotional purpose to continuing with his actions because as machismo teaches Latino society that the men are the providers and women should stay passive and subservient to men. It would not be uncommon for him to have reacted that way due to the aforementioned information about those murders. Essentially, it is how the Latino society has developed and held on to this societal expectation that has created a divide now more than ever because of this progressive movement among the youth. Now, there seems to be an understanding that machismo inhibits society from a positive progression , and the youth of Latin America is trying to come into terms with the LGBT community and its cultures.