MachismoBefore I got here, the term "machismo" was filed alongside "male chauvinist pig" in my brain's dictionary--a guy who thinks he's better than women and does stupid things to prove it.
mah-CHEESE-mo
n.
- Strong or aggressive masculine pride (from Google)
- Exaggerated masculinity (from Wiktionary)
- A strong or exaggerated sense of masculinity stressing attributes such as physical courage, virility, domination of women, and aggressiveness (from The American Heritage Dictionary via The Free Dictionary)
I got my first real taste of good old fashioned machismo when I visited Mexico with Isaac several years ago. The Mexican men called me "bonita" (beautiful) while they called Isaac "güero," a derogatory slang term for a white man.
I didn't really know what to expect when I got to Ecuador. In training, they talked to us constantly about machismo and how to deal with it: things like catcalls, differentiating between culturally appropriate vs inappropriate touching, and unwanted comments. But in those first ten weeks of training, I didn't really experience any effects of Ecuadorian machismo--at least not that came from men.
Then I noticed something: I was being bombarded with it from Ecuadorian women.
Now that we're in the Oriente, machismo has taken on a whole different wardrobe, and I have, to a small extent, experienced it from the men, though in ways I hadn't expected.
I'll be sharing some of my experiences regarding machismo in future blogs, but for now, I'd love to hear your questions and experiences, whether you're male or female. Heck, if you're machista, we'd love to hear your thoughts, as well.
..kirstie..
"Machismo" is the noun; "machista" is the adjective (either masculine or feminine). They both come from the Spanish word macho, which is a male animal (a female animal is an hembra).
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