Male Gender Roles

In the Chicana/o or Mexican culture patriarchy/machismo is represented among most Chicano males in the community. At a young age, men are told and taught that they must be strong and not be sensitive. As are result, most Chicanos develop machismo ideologies since they influence to be the dominant gender. Men are to represent masculinity, and when they don’t there sexuality is brought into question. Chicano families are gender structured that they set specific roles for males to follow. In the novel, “The Rain God” author Arturo Islas tells the story of a Mexican family living in the Mexican borders. Throughout the characters, they demonstrate the structure of a family that live in patriarchal home. For example, the character of Miguel Chico at a young age was taught about gender structures at a young age after his father did not allow him to play with dolls with Maria. His father Miguel Grande teaches Miguel Chico that men are not mean to be weak or emotional. Miguel Grande demonstrates the idea of what a macho male is suppose to be in a family by illustrates the roles how males are supposed to follow in the way they act or how they portray their masculinity to society.

Furthermore, in the article, “Hegemonic Masculinity in Boys Don’t Cry (1999)” writer Renee S. Grozelle discusses how at a young age boys are exposed to negative characteristic associated with masculinity. Teaching young men about how to be masculine can develop violence and aggression within men. Grozelle states, how “negative impacts that hegemonic masculinity has on constructions of gender and sexuality” that challenge male dominance (Grozell). I thought it was interesting to see how Grozelle the masculinity roles of men by giving an example of the film Boys Don’t Cry which describes the notion of masculinity in young males while trying to address issues with the main characters Brandon Teena gender and sexuality problem he encounters for not being “masculine” enough. The film demonstrates how the character has to deal with “dominant masculine ideologies “ for not fitting into the social norms of having to be a straight male. What stood out to me was when Grozell mentions, “ideologies of ‘masculinity’ held by the characters in the film are embedded in the social structure of society.” Males are expected to be masculine because they are set to be strong mentally and physically, if they do not show their masculinity men are often devalued and mistreated like Brandon’s character because they non-masculine individual challenge patriarchal social norms. Therefore, Islas character of Miguel Chico is taught to not be weak because it is not accepted within the Chicano culture. Males in Chicano culture are expected to be masculine and if they not show, they are challenging the dominant discourse.

http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/869/hegemonic-masculinity-in-boys-dont-cry-1999

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *