Students grapple with impacts of machismo in Latin Heritage Month talk

Mi Gente collaborated with the Duke Women’s Center on a presentation on the social significance of machismo, concluding with an introspective activity and discussion. The event, held Oct. 3, was part of Mi Gente’s Latino Heritage Month series of events.

Junior Nathalia Compres Perez, cultural chair of Mi Gente and organizer of the event, opened the presentation by defining and deconstructing machismo, a term closely associated with hypermasculinity and patriarchy.

“Machismo is considered by many to be a form of exaggerated masculinity,” she said.

Compress Perez elaborated by delving into types of machismo and touching on how machismo reinforces a paternalistic family structure as well as male supremacy. Various ways in which machismo can be expressed were also explored, including but not limited to the educational, legislative and historical sectors.

Compres Perez highlighted the prevalence of matrilineal Native American societies and the imposition of patriarchy by Spanish colonialism.

“I left the historical aspects of it [machismo] shine, especially because many indigenous people believe [in] fighting against the systems of power that currently exist as a result of Western culture,” she said.

To conclude the presentation, Compres Perez gave statistics that left the crowd speechless. Thirty-eight percent of Latina mothers are stay-at-home mothers, she said.

“[In] the machismo culture we currently live in basically expects a woman’s role to be to marry and have children, and [the mother is] the one who will take care of the children,” she explained.

After the presentation, the audience received a handout to participate in a “who’s in the room” activity where participants completed yes or no questions and exchanged cards anonymously to understand the audience’s experience of machismo. Statements on the leaflet included: “I grew up with the expectation that women should listen to men” and “Emotions are for women, men are expected to be strong”.

After the event, the audience gathered in a circle to have an open discussion about anything related to machismo. Participants engaged in difficult conversations – opening education and how they have tried to break the cycle of machismo.

Spark Fellow Ana Ramirez, Trinity ’20, shared how growing up, her mother did most of the housecleaning, while her father was not expected to clean. In her adult life, Ramirez decided to speak up and had a conversation with her father to make him understand why he had to start helping her mother with cleaning duties.

“[I’m] Hopefully by having small conversations like this tonight, it will begin to undo the history and impacts that machismo has had on all of our lives,” Ramirez said.

Freshman Mariana Meza loved having the space to be vulnerable and open to machismo.

When asked about the presence of machismo at Duke, Meza said, “every predominantly white — every institution, even non-white, and at every level — [is] so ingrained in all these norms that machismo manifests itself in ways we don’t even notice.

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