Machismo(s): A Cultural History, 1928-1984.

Abstract

This dissertation is a cultural history of machismo in U.S. English from 1928 1984. I argue that uncritical reproduction of the term machismo augmented the racialization of Latina/os and furthered white anxiety over Latina/o culture in the twentieth century. Since machismo has many connotations and permutations, I analyzed a random selection of varied sources where the term and/or its various forms appeared. This method creates an “index” where a single word points toward a constellation of ideas. The cultural history begins with 1930s Mexican intellectuals who imagined the Mexican national character as a tragic figure who lacked modernity. Of the many ways these Mexican intellectuals believed Mexico was deficient, machismo was one attribute, described as a violent and misogynistic masculinity. U.S. social scientists found these literary writings useful to create a framework which sought to gauge how macho Latin and Latina/o families were. Although there was a debate among these researchers as to what machismo was and how it specifically influenced family relations, it introduced a stereotype that reached far into U.S. discourse. 1960s and 1970s Latina/o academics, activists, and artists thus negotiated with these stereotypical notions by either accepting, protesting, or redefining machismo since the representation of their culture was at stake. I analyze different writings, texts, and performances, and place them together to investigate the type of cultural work the idea did within the social sciences, humanities, U.S. popular culture, and the Latina/o community. I conclude by arguing that the idea of machismo could be just as attractive as it was threatening to many whites, as writers and performers reiterated, applied, and furthered these racialized notions of Latina/o culture. In turn, many Latina/os responded with their own, often racialized, notions.