Gender Role In Hispanic Culture

Words: 1167
Pages: 5

My mother will never measure up to my uncle in my grandfather’s eyes. In rural areas, such as Oaxaca, Mexico, where my mother grew up, it is still predominately a patriarchal society. Machismo is viewed as a stereotypical trait for a man in this culture as is marianismo –gender role in a Hispanic culture that values feminine virtues such as purity and moral strength. The foundation of Latin culture is based on such a strict gender role cultivates strong bonds with one another because of known expectations, but it also brings forth a gap between those that fit into these roles and those that do not. If gender roles where to be removed from a Mexican culture women in this culture would have more self-confidence. Latin Culture would not enforce …show more content…
In a study done by US National Institute of Heath, they surveyed 8th, 10th, and 12th graders and found that Hispanic male students had a higher self-esteem than Hispanic female students but in general “Whites score slightly higher than Hispanics,” in the middle range. What this study shows are that Hispanic children do not have the lowest self-esteem they fall under the same category as white students, but as we break it into male and female, male students have a higher self-esteem than female students. Even as a diverse society there is competition and comparison to other races. As Latin American children grow up there is pressure to fit other norms and in the Hispanic communities’ there are already many other factors holding Hispanic communities back for example poverty and discrimination. The significant of uplifting our Hispanic women is that the Latin community would restore power and self- reliance on generations to come. When a person feels confident they feel powerful and they are self- assured and persistent in who they are and what they stand for. If we erased the gender role of a Latin women we would have a culture that flourishes and cultivates a magnet and diverse type of women. If there is no stereotype of what a Latin woman should be self- sufficiency and overall happiness would rise. We must be able to uplift Hispanic …show more content…
Because gender roles are so prevalent in a Mexican marriage where each gender has their own set of responsibilities and expectation the idea of being and equal roles would be a major shift on family dynamics. A modern marriage consists of both partners taking equal shares on their marriage responsibilities and not letting gender roles define what one or the other does. The transition between a traditional marriage into a modern one would lead to more independence from their gender specific roles and the development of new skills for both sexes. This is because once expectations are no longer in place so much can happen and gender roles would not be an obstacle. Without gender roles both sexes would enjoy learning what only used to be a “man’s job” or a “women’s duty” and interchange jobs. An example of this is, my cousin Lulu who is a first generation Mexican-American and has been married for about four years, she shares household duties with her husband and has a professional job that sometimes requires her husband to take care of the children. This is an example of a modern marriage because there is never gender assigned task because there is such an equal balance of support and power. Consequently, my second cousins are more open and have more freedom to explore whatever catches