THE MYTH OF Machismo AN Everyday Reality FOR Latin American Women PDF

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Cooper, Tanya 9/14/2020 For Educational Use Only

THE MYTH OF MACHISMO: AN EVERYDAY REALITY..., 15 St. Thomas L. Rev....

15 St. Thomas L. Rev. 859 Saint Thomas Law Review Summer 2003 Article

Patricia M. Hernandez a1 Copyright (c) 2003 St. Thomas Law Review; Patricia M. Hernandez

THE MYTH OF MACHISMO: AN EVERYDAY REALITY FOR LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN My first husband was a drug addict and an alcoholic. He hit me a lot, and he burned me on my face with a lit cigarette . . . . When I was hit by my husbands and I went to the police, they told me to hit back.

- Maria dos Anjos Ferreira, age 29, Brazil 1

Stories such as Maria's are common in Latin America. 2 Here in the United States, battering is an overwhelming problem. 3 However, although some would disagree, it is a problem that, at least, has been confronted. 4 Congress has passed stiff measures to aid women in battering situations and local authorities have activated policies, such as mandatory arrest, that are intended to help women fight domestic violence. 5 In the United States, there seems to be an honest attempt to combat the evil of domestic violence. *860 6 Unfortunately, in Latin America and the Latin countries of the Caribbean, abuse here is just as prevalent, or more so. 7 What is common about Maria's story is not just the fact that she was battered. 8 What is common to millions of Latin American women is the response by authorities to their battering. 9 Here, I propose that cultural norms of gender behavior are not only the cause of battering in Latin America, but also the reason so few laws exist to protect women in Latin America and, more so, the reason why enforcement of those few laws is so lax. With roots in Spain, a phenomenon called “machismo” has developed into a uniquely Latin experience, dividing the genders in Latin America into two distinct classes; 10 a distinction that becomes difficult to escape for Latin American women. Although organized and active, women's rights groups within each nation have attempted certain types of improvements, including the application of new protective laws specifically aimed at eliminating or, at least, diminishing domestic violence. However they must still operate within a framework of individuals and governmental organizations that are fundamentally flawed and based upon the inequality of women and the rights of male over female. 11 International groups have begun to pressure Latin American countries by utilizing international human rights law as a theater. 12 However, problems surround any type of international response.

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Cooper, Tanya 9/14/2020 For Educational Use Only

THE MYTH OF MACHISMO: AN EVERYDAY REALITY..., 15 St. Thomas L. Rev....

This paper attempts to present a loose, culturally driven definition of machismo and how this cultural belief affects a woman's “place” in Latin America. With this, another aim is to present a view of the available statistics regarding battering in Latin America. Finally, it is necessary to correlate machismo with the available laws and the ineffectiveness of their application. It is important to also recognize that women's rights groups within Latin America have attempted to pursue certain new avenues to combat domestic violence. Furthermore, the international community has begun to analyze the benefits and consequences associated with the attempt *861 to fight domestic violence in Latin America with traditional provisions of human rights law. It is with cautious optimism that one must approach the subject of domestic violence in Latin America. Advances are necessarily few when violence, and any response to it, is based upon the fundamental inferiority of women and male dominance over the female.

WHAT IS MACHISMO? Of course, it seems that in most any culture there are certain generally accepted societal beliefs regarding the behavior and expectations associated with being a man. 13 In Latin America and Latino countries of the Caribbean, machismo defines manhood. In doing so, unfortunately, this theory also defines the female gender by what her duties, responsibilities, and behavior are supposed to be, especially in relation to men. Of course, many would believe that machismo is defined similarly throughout Latin countries, while, in fact, the norms of machismo vary slightly from country to country. 14 In Peru, machismo denotes a courageous male that “demonstrates superiority over other men and dominance over women.” 15 For a Dominican male, to be machista means that one prefers aggression as the method to resolve disputes. 16 Violence against one's wife is yet another indicium of one's macho self. 17 The Puerto Rican male also dominates his wife and is never to be bothered with concerns about child-rearing. 18 *862 An old Spanish riddle states: “Question: What do mules and women have in common? Answer: A good beating makes them both better.” 19 With roots in Spanish notions of manhood evidenced by this old riddle and heavily influenced by the Catholic precepts and faith, machismo has developed into a Latin American creation. Scholars and politicians have attempted to define machismo and how it affects both female and male roles. 20 Because there is no set definition and, as evidenced above, it is conceptualized fairly differently from country to country, the best manner in which to learn the common characteristics of machismo is to listen to those who live within its confines and study its development and perpetuation. After all, when a culture is so fundamentally founded on a belief, it becomes a creation of the people. “Machismo has been described as ‘the cult of virility. The chief characteristics of this cult are exaggerated aggressiveness and intransigence in male-to-male interpersonal relationships and arrogance and sexual aggression in male-to female relationships.”’ 21 It is a set of cultural expectations for men that include both positive and negative elements. Positive aspects include notions of pride, honor, courage, responsibility and obligation to the family. Along with the positive traits, however, “machismo” ideals also imply sexual prowess and aggressive behavior, as well as the belief that men are physically and morally superior to the woman. The male achieves resolution of male/female conflicts through absolute dominance. 22 “‘Machismo’ can be considered a result of a society that maintains vestiges of the patriarchy, that submits the woman to the man, that holds in highest regards the ‘honor’ of the man and confuses honor with total domination of the woman.” 23 Interestingly, it is difficult to find a definition of machismo that does not aim to define males by their treatment of females. Machismo seems to entail what is socially and culturally to be male, but it also defines what it is to be female. *863 Not surprisingly, machismo is a self-perpetuating norm. As children grow up, they are taught the behavior that is demanded of each gender. 24 Children of either sex are expected to follow these norms. Women find their place - as do men. Chilean writers Ana Caceres and Cristina Orge present how upbringing affects gender roles in Latin America:

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THE MYTH OF MACHISMO: AN EVERYDAY REALITY..., 15 St. Thomas L. Rev....

Since childhood we are told that men and women are different. We are given norms of behavior, we are allowed or forbidden conduct and responsibilities as per our sex. As women, we are taught since a young age to be submissive, passive, soft, flirtatious, and to negate our own sexuality (except to satisfy the man) . . . . Boys on the other hand are taught the values of strength, creativity, courage, and the need to quell all emotion. His sexuality is celebrated, but merely as an unstoppable instinct . . . . In the microcosm of the family, discrimination against women is translated into sexual, emotional and financial abuse with physical violence being part of everyday life. Because men have been taught the legitimacy of their superiority over women, they use their power arbitrarily to dissuade conflict, to have his rules obeyed and to generally have his wife and daughters accept his view on things. 25

Traditionally, gender roles in Latino culture have been clearly and rigidly defined. Male and female children are socialized differently from an early age. Men are the dominant, authoritarian figures, whereas women are the caregivers and nurturers, learning to take care of everyone else before themselves. Latino gender scripts dictate a high degree of control by the male, within the corresponding degree of dependency by the female. 26

The President of the Nicaraguan National Assembly Carlos Nuñez stated: To me, machismo is a particular form of manifestation of oppression by the man of the woman that not only carries with it discriminatory attitudes but, since the disappearance of the matriarchy and the imposition of the patriarchy, has meant reducing women to the condition of object, with the man acting as the head of the family, and thus demanding, ordering, and imposing without taking into account what I would *864 call the exercise of democracy inside the house and outside of it. 27

The dependency of the female has developed into its own “cult,” a “cult of femininity,” referred to as “Marianismo.” Marianismo refers to the pattern often found in Latin culture of females being submissive, self-sacrificing, and stoic. 28 Ximena Buster writes: Machismo is obviously a Latin American manifestation of global patriarchy, whereby males enjoy special privileges within the society and within the family and are considered superior to women. Marianismo, Mariology, or the cult of the Virgin Mother-she who embodies simultaneously the ideal of nurturing/motherhood and chastitypermeates the world view of Latin America and all aspects of its culture and institutions. Latin American women are supposed to pattern their role as women after this perfect model inspired through pervasive Catholicism. 29

Jenny Rivera writes of Latina immigrants living in the United States: Within the Latino community, Latinas' identities are defined on the basis of their roles as mothers and wives. By encouraging definitions of Latinas as interconnected with and dependent upon status within a family unit structure, the Latino patriarchy denies Latinas individuality on the basis of gender. For Latinas, cultural norms and myths of national origin intersect with these patriarchal notions of a woman's role and identity. The result is an internal community-defined, modified by external male-centered paradigms . . . . Those within the Latino community expect Latinas to be traditional, and to exist solely within the Latino family structure . . . . The influence of

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THE MYTH OF MACHISMO: AN EVERYDAY REALITY..., 15 St. Thomas L. Rev....

Catholicism throughout Latin America solidifies this image within the community, where Latinas are expected to follow dogma and to be religious, conservative and traditional in their beliefs. 30

As can be noted by the language of these two writers, Marianismo, as the opposite of machismo, is specifically driven by religious dogma. The influence of the Catholic Church in Latin America cannot be and is not underestimated. The Church's teaching concerning the Virgin Mother and her qualities has been as much an influence on female gender roles and machismo as any of the vestiges of Spanish ancestry. 31 *865 Migdaleder Mazuera, a Venezuelan professor, states: “Before the law we have won equality, but our patriarchal ancestry has given us the role of man's companion.” 32 Because Latin America is an overwhelmingly Catholic society with strong beliefs in the Virgin Mary, women are forced to live up to the standard of the Virgin, chaste, pure, obedient and submissive. 33 In addition, religious teachings of Eve's submission to Adam in the Garden of Eden also aid in the position of women. 34 Latina women have been taught that they as women represent the cause of the “fall of Man from God's grace.” 35 Their position in the world as they grow up is partially driven by an “imposed” obligation to pay for these sins. Therefore, when a Latin American woman is a victim of domestic violence, the lack of state aid she receives makes her accept her plight as the “the cross that God has sent me.” 36 In fact, in Colombia, women married in the church are more likely to be beaten than those married outside the church. 37 In a study conducted of women in Santiago, Chile, over seventy percent of the women who were victims of domestic violence responded that religion was very important or important in their lives. 38 Although religion influenced the reality of machismo and Marianismo, it is important to recognize that machismo has developed with elements not brought on by Church teachings alone. Machismo presently stands apart from the Church as the first cause of domination of women by men. It affects all aspects of women's lives, not just domestic violence. One Guatemalan sociologist expressed what she feels are some of the effects of machismo on women: 1) The concept of the woman as a sexual object . . .; 2) The establishment of economic, political, [and] judicial in favor of the males; 3) The exclusion of women in all level of decision-making . . .; 4) The pressures and prejudices that prevent women from deciding about their own sexuality and choose whether or not to get married and whether or *866 not to have children; 5) The double standard. The male standard which encourages men to be unfaithful. And the female standard which requires absolute faithfulness . . .; 6) Physical abuse; 7) [ ]The refusal to allow women to participate in the public world and the woman's place in the home as a housewife. 39

Thanks to machismo, women must deal with discrimination in all aspects of life (e.g. discrimination in the workplace, lack of reproductive rights, political disadvantage, etc.). One example of this prevalent discrimination is that in Guatemala the machista beliefs are so powerful that President Ramiro de Leon decided to have a man head that country's delegation to Beijing's Fourth International Conference on Women. 40 Feminist writer Luz Mendez de la Vega adds that she felt ashamed of her country's delegation to Beijing because it consisted of a group of men accompanied by their wives. 41 These other discriminatory effects on women's lives often are the cause behind a woman remaining in an abusive relationship and not attempting to leave her husband for a life with her children away from her abusers. 42 While in the United States many believe that the woman's position as a battered woman is exacerbated by feelings of “learned helplessness,” theories such as

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Cooper, Tanya 9/14/2020 For Educational Use Only

THE MYTH OF MACHISMO: AN EVERYDAY REALITY..., 15 St. Thomas L. Rev....

these are also promoted in Latin America. 43 However, in Latin America “learned helplessness” is exacerbated by the “learned” role of women in life. Violence in a Latin American woman's life is simply a part of the submissive role women are assigned in a patriarchal culture. 44 In Latin culture, a woman has been taught that her identity is linked to what she is to others: mother, wife, daughter, maid, etc. The Latin *867 woman's self-identity depends extraordinarily on other's opinions of her, including how well she carries out her “duties” in relation to men. 45 Because of this, it is difficult for a woman to assess that the battering is, in fact, a crime, instead believing that her behavior justified the abuse. 46 The theory of “Marianismo” gives the woman the belief that she is above the abuse, she is the person that facilitates the existence of the men in her life. 47 She is destined to be stoic and accepting of her fate. In addition, while in Latin society the man is responsible for the economic well being of the home, the woman is absolutely not supposed to be part of the economic society. 48 It is her responsibility to be at home, taking care of the home. 49 This gives women little possibility to escape the clutches of an abusive husband because it would be difficult or nearly impossible for the woman to be able to support herself and her children outside the home. In the United States, it is feared that fifty percent of women will suffer some kind of family violence during their lifetime. 50 The concept of machismo is so entrenched in Latino culture, that even within the U.S., some Latino men have attempted to use the cultural defense while on trial for abusing their wives. 51 The cultural defense attempts to mitigate punishment by proving that violence against women is a cultural norm within the Latino culture. 52

THE EFFECTS OF MACHISMO Statistics and Anecdotes The argument here is based on whether machismo is a cause of increased battering and wife-killing within Latin America. As stated previously, fifty percent of women within the United States have or will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives. Interestingly, the numbers in Latin America are not that much different. 53 *868 However, the numbers reflected in Latin American statistics only demonstrate the number of reported cases. 54 Women in Latin America are very afraid to report incidents of domestic violence, partially because of the ineffectiveness of any police response. 55 Only five to fifteen percent of incidents of domestic violence are reported in Latin America. 56 Statistics, therefore, are not generally trustworthy to determine the true extent of the problem. 57 Still, statistics exist as do anecdotal accounts of the most horrendous examples of domestic violence. Here I would like to present some of these accounts to demonstrate how disturbing the wrath of machismo and domestic violence in Latin America really is. By far one of the worst stories I found during my research was that of a Costa Rican woman and her daughter whose husband kept them in cages and fed like animals for four years. 58 Her husband had told her that he was locking her up so she could not go out and look at men. Sadly, even though charges were brought against him, they were dismissed because he never actually “carried out a physical act of violence.” 59 In Costa Rica, one of the more developed Latin American countries, 322 cases of violence against women are reported each month and it is estimated that eighty percent of women have experienced aggression. 60 Zayra Salazar, Director of the Woman's Delegation, blames the aggression on the patriarchal system within Costa Rica, a country where, she says, police have traditionally ignored the abuses based on a belief that the disputes were a “private” problem. 61 Other countries report statistics that are just as disturbing. In Colombia, 65% of women in a relationship are abused physically or mentally, and only an estimated 5% seek help from the police. 62 According to the Colombia's Forensic Institute of Bogota, 94%

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Cooper, Tanya 9/14/2020 For Educational Use Only

THE MYTH OF MACHISMO: AN EVERYDAY REALITY..., 15 St. Thomas L. Rev....

of persons hospitalized in 1993 *869 for bodily injury cases were battered women. 63 In Argentina, it is estimated that 25% of households have domestic abuse. 64 In Ecuador, 80% of women have suffered or continue to suffer domestic violence. 65 A study conducted by the Guayaquil Commisserat of the Woman and Family determined that 72% of cases of violence reported between April and June 1994 were domestic violence cases. 66 In Honduras, eight women and girls are murdered a month, the majority within a domestic viole...