The 20 types of Machismo (and their characteristics)

Fortunately, the world moves on. And with this we are not only referring to the scientific and technological plane, but also socially. And in this regard, one of the greatest progresses that we have achieved as a society has been that of, although there are still many things to improve, to ensure that the figure of women is respected. Because although there are still problems to be solved, if we look back, we have traveled a long way.

Before the feminist movement was born in the middle of the 18th century, in the context of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, historically men have exercised superiority over women, considering this as an inferior being that he does not have the same rights as men. The woman has lived oppressed by machismo.

An ideology that encompasses all those social practices, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that promote the superiority of men over women, being able to find the roots of this machismo already in primitive societies where women were simply in charge of caring for their offspring. But over time, this led to no access to vote, gender-based violence, wage differences, and many other forms of discrimination.

It is evident that, thanks to the work of the feminist movement, machismo is less and less present in societies. But neither can we close our eyes to the evidence that sexist behaviors continue to exist. Therefore, to realize this sad situation and In order to be able to detect these attitudes, in today's article we are going to analyze the different types of machismo. Let us begin.

What kinds of machismos are there?

Machismo is the ideology that promotes the superiority of men over women through behaviors, attitudes, beliefs and social practices that consider women an inferior being simply for being a woman. This macho ideology applies to all areas of life, relegating women to a secondary role and seeing them only as caregivers of the home and children.

But beyond this oversimplified definition, we must be very clear that machismo is not always expressed in the same way. And there are times that they even do it in ways that, either because of ignorance or because we simply have them deeply rooted, we don't even realize that they are sexist.

Hence, machismo is often difficult to identify. But precisely what we have to do if we want to continue fighting one of the greatest evils in society is to learn to detect sexist behaviors in order to punish them. In this way, we will continue to advance on the path towards a feminist society where we are all equal. Therefore, we are going to see how machismo is classified.

1. Family machismo

Family machismo is one that occurs in the context of families that have a very marked patriarchal structure where women have more obligations and restrictions than men, who enjoy all the privileges of living at home. In the family, there is a male domination, with an unequal distribution of domestic tasks and with a control of economic accounts by the man.

2. Historical machismo

Historical machismo is one that consists in omitting u hide the importance of women in events relevant to history. Thus, an attempt is made to erase the legacy of women who participated in science, politics or social revolutions. It is a machismo that wants to rewrite history so that it seems that only men have been important.

3. Social machismo

Social machismo is one that manifests itself by considering women as a simple body that is exhibited for the enjoyment of men. And it is that at the level of society, women have often been considered simply that: a piece of meat.

4. Sexual machismo

Sexual machismo, also known as intimate, is one that is based on considering that, during sexual relations, the woman must adopt a passive and submissive behavior. This form of machismo considers that sex is only made for the enjoyment of men, so denies female desire.

5. Intellectual machismo

Intellectual machismo is one that is based on considering that women are less capable at an intellectual level to function in certain areas simply because they are a woman. In other words, it is believing that women are dumber than men. One of the clearest examples is saying that women don't know how to drive.

6. Religious machismo

Religious machismo is one that has its origin in the monitoring of sexist behaviors promulgated by the sacred writings of a religion. And it is that the great religions, following their guidelines to the letter and interpreting the writings literally, contain many macho behaviors that become extreme in certain cases that need not be mentioned. In the same way, the low presence of women in ecclesiastical organizations is also considered religious machismo.

7. Traditional machismo

Traditional machismo is one that is based on tradition and that, generally, does not develop evilly. And it is that they are ideas that, despite being macho, we have them so integrated because of the traditional legacy that we do not even realize that they are oppressive for women. A clear example is asking an adult woman when she plans to marry and have children.

8. Machismo due to misogyny

Machismo due to misogyny is one that develops out of hatred towards women. Thus, it is based on negative emotions towards women that are translated into hate speech that, obviously, in turn manifests itself with macho behaviors. I mean, here it is not by tradition, it is because a man hates women.

9. Personal machismo

By personal machismo we understand all those macho attitudes that are perpetrated by a single individual. That is, a man or a woman (let's not forget that women can also be macho) develops macho behaviors but in a personal way, without being organized in any group.

10. Institutional machismo

In contrast, institutional machismo is one in which machista attitudes are not based only on the individual, but are perpetrated by a group with a formal structure that shares these machista ideas. The political parties that advocate relegating women to an inferior role are the best example of this form of machismo.

11. Paternalistic machismo

Paternalistic machismo is one that is based on adopt overprotective attitudes towards women. And although it may be considered as something of good intention, the truth is that protecting women from more only shows that we are considering them as an inferior being incapable of taking care of themselves. Believing that women have to be protected by men obviously has a sexist background.

12. Cultural machismo

Cultural machismo is one that is based on a low presence of women in cultural manifestations. Thus, when we see that there are few female film directors, little representation of women in women's exhibitions, few literature awards won by women, etc., we are faced with this form of machismo that restricts women's access to having the same privileges than man in the field of culture.

13. Violent machismo

Violent machismo is one that is expressed with an apology for violence against women and, in the worst case, with acts of physical aggression towards the woman. So, we are talking about machismo that is based on gender violence. The man makes use of his physical force to, through violence, exercise dominion over the woman.

14. Linguistic machismo

Linguistic machismo is one that is based on those expressions that do not represent women or that have a pejorative meaning when applied to the female gender. That is, when it is stated that the masculine is the generic one or when some dictionary meanings have negative meanings when it is for the feminine gender but not for the masculine, we are before this form of machismo.

15. Physiological machismo

Physiological machismo is one that is based on belittling everything that has to do with the anatomy and psychology of women. This ranges from telling a woman that she is angry because she has her period or stating that they are all hysterics to little scientific investigation of the problems of female health.

16. Emotional machismo

Emotional machismo is one that is based on considering that women are incapable of managing their emotions. Thus, all those occasions in which we say that women are irrational, that they are more emotional, that they are incapable of being emotionally independent and that they are always crying, are moments of emotional machismo.

17. Academic machismo

Academic machismo is one that is based on the low presence of women in senior university and / or research positions. In other words, the under-representation of academic women in both scientific and social fields is a form of machismo that occurs in the world of universities and research centers.

18. Educational machismo

Educational machismo is one that is based on giving the new generations all kinds of ideas that contribute to continuing machista behaviors in society. When the macho proverbs continue to spread, the contributions of women in science are made invisible, girls are oriented to certain trades, etc., machismo is being established in education.

19. Economic machismo

Economic machismo is one that is based on make it difficult for women in the economy. We are talking, then, of less access to senior management positions, lower salary, wage gap, underestimation of work skills, fewer opportunities, problems related to whether or not you get pregnant ...

20. Legislative machismo

Legislative machismo is one that is expressed through the laws. In some countries there are no laws that recognize women as citizens with rights, denying the right to vote, limiting their freedoms, receiving different punishments, etc. When the country's own legislation promotes machismo, we are facing this form of machismo.