Machismo Cultures and their Effect on Women
Google defines machismo as "strong or aggressive masculine pride." In life though, this "strong or aggressive masculine pride" can result in women being overpowered (or ignored) by the societies they live in, and men dominating those societies as well. Machismo societies can be oppressive towards women, no matter where they are located or how developed the society may be. As soon as men are seen as more superior, powerful, dominant, or stronger than women, women struggle to achieve the same rights or even abilities as men. I have witnessed the impact of machismo firsthand during my travels to Nicaragua and Argentina.
In Nicaragua, machismo has a very detrimental impact on women's safety, for from what I saw, women were generally regarded as weaker or are objectified. When I was there with Outreach360, an organization that teaches English to the local children of Jinotega, my group and I were warned to wear clothing that was very loose and did not hug our curves, etc. I was not completely sure why that mattered, so I assumed it was just to respect the Nicaraguan culture, which was probably more conservative than the United States. However, once I arrived, I realized there might have been another reason. Even though our clothes were baggy and all of our curves were sufficiently hidden, I still felt the weight of some of the Nicaraguan men's gazes on me and the other girls, and it was not pleasant. I remember one evening I was returning to the compound with a group of friends when a truck full of guys slowly drove next to us while whistling at us. While this is not a crime in itself (and it definitely happens in the U.S. too), I could see how this idea of viewing women as sexual beings/objects can translate into the increased amount of sexual assaults and rapes that occur in that area. Throughout the week I was there, we had heard about the violence that occurred against women (due to the machismo culture in Nicaragua) and had seen the price this violence had on the women. We saw and heard about the large number of teenage pregnancies, which typically resulted in the women having to give up their future (of either attempting to study somewhere, etc. or living out their dreams) to take care of their children, sometimes without the support of the men that impregnated them. Machismo culture in Nicaragua often resulted in women being stripped of the choice to decide what they want to do with their future or their options for the future at least being severely limited.
In Argentina, at first the machismo culture was a little less noticeable to me as an outsider, but I gradually saw the effect it had on the local girls who were around my age. In a country that is in love with soccer (and generally does very well in international soccer competitions like the World Cup), one would naturally assume that both the men and the women of all ages would be pretty good at playing the sport. I soon found that this was not the case. After playing a few matches of soccer for fun with some members of our Argentinian host school (I was on an exchange programs in Argentina), I soon realized a couple of facts. First, I was one of 3 or 4 girls on the field (out of like 20 people), and of those girls, there was only 1 Argentinian (and she was not very good). Second, I noticed that both the Argentinian guys and girls were very surprised that I somewhat knew what I was doing. While I'm not a terrible soccer player, I am definitely not the best (I've never played club, etc.), so I was confused by the Argentinians reactions. However, after playing some more games with them, I saw that most of the Argentinian girls had no clue what they were doing (not for lack of talent, more just because of lack of practice playing the sport). I remember asking one of the Argentinian guys for his advice on which girl out of the remaining 10 to choose from my team (I was in charge of picking people to join my team), and the guy responded by saying (in Spanish) the equivalent of "choose any of them. They're all the same." While his tone clearly showed he meant no disrespect, I realized that he really believed that they were all of the same soccer level, for none of them knew what they were doing (and I hate to admit it, but none of them were really good). Because I did not understand how in a country that loves soccer, there were basically no female soccer players at my age, I did some investigating. After talking with my host sister, I learned that instead of playing sports, the majority of the girls at her school took dance instead. While I'm not critiquing dance or saying that dance doesn't take talent or athletic ability (because trust me, I suck at dancing: I know it's hard), I was shocked by the fact that that's all they did. After talking to Jojo, she said that her host sister was one of 4 girls that played soccer in their entire school, and they were made by the coach to play with the 7-year-old boys. I also distinctly remember the boys (both Argentinian and American) going out to play soccer one night and not inviting the girls. When the girls asked why not, the guys said they only wanted good players (they then jokingly invited me but said my host sister could not come). Although it was a joke, I was annoyed by their response because how could they expect the girls to be good when none of the girls were taken seriously enough to teach how to play the sport in the first place? Although the situation of a lot of Argentinian girls not playing sports is not the same as them getting sexually violated (like I in Nicaragua), the lack of equal gender representation in sports is most likely a result of the machismo culture that can be found in Argentina. Girls are generally expected to dance over playing sports like soccer, volleyball, or basketball, unlike the guys. Plus, even the girls who do play sports are not treated as equal to the guys of their age level, instead being forced to play with guys of much younger ages.
Also, because I do not want to leave this out, it is fair to mention that the machismo culture in Argentina also has the same violent consequences as it does in Nicaragua. While I was there, I attended a workshop on domestic/gender violence in Argentina, and I learned that every 30 hours, a women is killed in Argentina (not just raped or assaulted, but killed).
Although machismo takes form in different ways in Argentina and Nicaragua, the overall result is the same: women are not given the same opportunities as men and are generally treated more poorly. The first step to lessening women's disadvantages in these areas is to acknowledge the problem and start to create a dialogue about it, which is part of the reason I was motivated to write this post.
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| Jinotega, Nicaragua |
In Nicaragua, machismo has a very detrimental impact on women's safety, for from what I saw, women were generally regarded as weaker or are objectified. When I was there with Outreach360, an organization that teaches English to the local children of Jinotega, my group and I were warned to wear clothing that was very loose and did not hug our curves, etc. I was not completely sure why that mattered, so I assumed it was just to respect the Nicaraguan culture, which was probably more conservative than the United States. However, once I arrived, I realized there might have been another reason. Even though our clothes were baggy and all of our curves were sufficiently hidden, I still felt the weight of some of the Nicaraguan men's gazes on me and the other girls, and it was not pleasant. I remember one evening I was returning to the compound with a group of friends when a truck full of guys slowly drove next to us while whistling at us. While this is not a crime in itself (and it definitely happens in the U.S. too), I could see how this idea of viewing women as sexual beings/objects can translate into the increased amount of sexual assaults and rapes that occur in that area. Throughout the week I was there, we had heard about the violence that occurred against women (due to the machismo culture in Nicaragua) and had seen the price this violence had on the women. We saw and heard about the large number of teenage pregnancies, which typically resulted in the women having to give up their future (of either attempting to study somewhere, etc. or living out their dreams) to take care of their children, sometimes without the support of the men that impregnated them. Machismo culture in Nicaragua often resulted in women being stripped of the choice to decide what they want to do with their future or their options for the future at least being severely limited.
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| Buenos Aires, Argentina |
In Argentina, at first the machismo culture was a little less noticeable to me as an outsider, but I gradually saw the effect it had on the local girls who were around my age. In a country that is in love with soccer (and generally does very well in international soccer competitions like the World Cup), one would naturally assume that both the men and the women of all ages would be pretty good at playing the sport. I soon found that this was not the case. After playing a few matches of soccer for fun with some members of our Argentinian host school (I was on an exchange programs in Argentina), I soon realized a couple of facts. First, I was one of 3 or 4 girls on the field (out of like 20 people), and of those girls, there was only 1 Argentinian (and she was not very good). Second, I noticed that both the Argentinian guys and girls were very surprised that I somewhat knew what I was doing. While I'm not a terrible soccer player, I am definitely not the best (I've never played club, etc.), so I was confused by the Argentinians reactions. However, after playing some more games with them, I saw that most of the Argentinian girls had no clue what they were doing (not for lack of talent, more just because of lack of practice playing the sport). I remember asking one of the Argentinian guys for his advice on which girl out of the remaining 10 to choose from my team (I was in charge of picking people to join my team), and the guy responded by saying (in Spanish) the equivalent of "choose any of them. They're all the same." While his tone clearly showed he meant no disrespect, I realized that he really believed that they were all of the same soccer level, for none of them knew what they were doing (and I hate to admit it, but none of them were really good). Because I did not understand how in a country that loves soccer, there were basically no female soccer players at my age, I did some investigating. After talking with my host sister, I learned that instead of playing sports, the majority of the girls at her school took dance instead. While I'm not critiquing dance or saying that dance doesn't take talent or athletic ability (because trust me, I suck at dancing: I know it's hard), I was shocked by the fact that that's all they did. After talking to Jojo, she said that her host sister was one of 4 girls that played soccer in their entire school, and they were made by the coach to play with the 7-year-old boys. I also distinctly remember the boys (both Argentinian and American) going out to play soccer one night and not inviting the girls. When the girls asked why not, the guys said they only wanted good players (they then jokingly invited me but said my host sister could not come). Although it was a joke, I was annoyed by their response because how could they expect the girls to be good when none of the girls were taken seriously enough to teach how to play the sport in the first place? Although the situation of a lot of Argentinian girls not playing sports is not the same as them getting sexually violated (like I in Nicaragua), the lack of equal gender representation in sports is most likely a result of the machismo culture that can be found in Argentina. Girls are generally expected to dance over playing sports like soccer, volleyball, or basketball, unlike the guys. Plus, even the girls who do play sports are not treated as equal to the guys of their age level, instead being forced to play with guys of much younger ages.
Also, because I do not want to leave this out, it is fair to mention that the machismo culture in Argentina also has the same violent consequences as it does in Nicaragua. While I was there, I attended a workshop on domestic/gender violence in Argentina, and I learned that every 30 hours, a women is killed in Argentina (not just raped or assaulted, but killed).
Although machismo takes form in different ways in Argentina and Nicaragua, the overall result is the same: women are not given the same opportunities as men and are generally treated more poorly. The first step to lessening women's disadvantages in these areas is to acknowledge the problem and start to create a dialogue about it, which is part of the reason I was motivated to write this post.
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