According to Hofstede’s power distance scoring system, Mexico scored a rating of 81, while the world average is a score of 59.31 (Penn State, 2020). Power distance refers to the attitudes and way that powerful or nonpowerful members of a culture are treated (Penn State, 2020). Masculinity and Femininity are about gender roles, with Mexico scoring a 69 for Masculinity which is above the world average of 49.53 (Penn State, 2020). Hofstede describes cultures that lean towards higher uncertainty avoidance as having a lot of laws and rules to reduce ambiguity, Mexico has an uncertainty avoidance score of 82, while the world average is 67.64 (Penn State, 2020).
In many Hispanic cultures such as that of Mexican culture, masculinity dominates the average household. In Veronica Ortiz’s “The Culture of Machismo in Mexico Harms Women” she describes Machismo as a commonly used synonym for sexism and misogyny and is a word that promotes an attitude and conception that men are by nature, superior to women (Ortiz, 2018). Machismo reinforces the idea that women in Mexico are second-class citizens and the expectation is for them to be the “the little lady of the house” (Ortiz, 2011). In 2011, the Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was asked during an interview about the price of Tortillas, his response was “I don’t know, I am not the lady of the house” his response was viewed as humorous and quick-witted, sadly it reinforces the idea that machismo and masculinity is king (Ortiz, 2018). Domestic violence and femicide within Mexico are on the rise, violent offenses against women have gone up 7.7 percent in 2020 (Saez, 2020). The Machismo mentality has fostered a culture that protects the aggressor by normalizing hyper-masculine conduct (Saez, 2020).
Regarding a global leadership perspective, President Trump has been able to leverage Machismo within his current political campaign as a source for attracting potential Mexican American and Hispanic voters. Much of this reason is that Mexican American voters are conservative with the valued beliefs of family, church, and work being on the top of things they view as a priority (Navarette, 2019). Even though the president has made comments regarding Mexicans as rapists, murderers, or cartel members, along with his own controversies regarding his extramarital relations and views towards women (Navarette, 2019). A culture that views masculinity as King, women as second-class citizens, bad behavior, and negative comments are easy to forgive from a candidate that fits the Machismo leader profile.
President Trump’s popularity amongst Hispanic and Mexican-American voters makes me consider as well as provides some validation towards Mexico’s power distance score of 81, uncertainty avoidance score of 82, and masculinity score of 69 all of which are on the higher end of the rating scale and all above the world averages (Penn State, 2020). Between scoring above average in the three (uncertainty avoidance, power, and masculinity) scoring areas are these parallel with the ideology of the Machismo mentality?
Reference
Navarette, R., (2019). Millions of Latinos are Trump supporters. Here’s what they’re thinking. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/11/26/latinos-for-trump-supporters-hispanics-mexicans-attacks-immigrants-column/4224954002/
Ortiz, V.L. (2018). The Culture of Machismo in Mexico Harms Women. Merion West. Retrieved from https://merionwest.com/2018/01/28/the-culture-of-machismo-in-mexico-harms-women/
Pennsylvania State University (2020). Leadership in Global Context – OLEAD 410. Lesson 02: Introduction to Culture. Hofstede’s Dimension of Culture. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2075490/modules/items/29697156
Saez, E. (2020). Machismo: Toxic Masculinity Within Hispanic Culture. Best of SNO. Retrieved from https://bestofsno.com/44900/features/machismo-toxic-masculinity-within-hispanic-culture/
While I know we’re not supposed to be influenced by the pictures added to the blogs, I immediately wanted to read your post because of Macho Man Randy Savage’s striking pose at the top. I guess I was drawn to all that masculinity.
However, on a more content related note, machismo and its effects also leads to gender discrimination. Here in the United States, we tend to think that sexism practices are practically irrelevant, or an unacceptable part of business. But we know that wage gaps, growth opportunities, and development of the female workforce still lags behind that of our male counterparts. In their article “Exploring The Role of Machismo in Gender Discrimination: A Comparison of Mexico and the U.S.” Sharon Segrest, Eric Romero, and Darla Domke-Damonte explain that “median salary for women in the U.S. between the ages of 25-34 with a bachelor’s degree was about 78% of what their male peers earned” (p. 14). In Mexico, this gap is even greater because of their higher masculinity culture. Segrest, Romero, and Domke-Damonte state that “in Mexico, gender discrimination seems to be more blatant than in the U.S. perhaps due to the fact that Mexican women have less legal protection than women in the U.S.” (p. 14). The lack of laws and regulations that could balance the power between those competing interests in Mexico support the effects machismo. The few that derive power in Mexico would have to position themselves to endorse change that understands that the masculinity of the nation is promoting male dominance at the cost to female equality and fairness.
Segrest, et. all explain that “Mexico and the United States are examples of countries which rated high on masculine values” (p. 21). I believe that that partially explains Trump’s presidency in the U.S. It’s no wonder that both nations are in constant struggles regarding their relationships with other nations and being able to nurture the people of their nations. This was extremely prevalent just yesterday when Kamala Harris became the first female vice president elect. Mexico shares a similar history in that their nation has also yet to have a female in their top political office. Segrest, et. all convey that high masculine cultures emphasize material gains and assertiveness which we already know are qualities that are not associated with women (p. 21). This discrimination keeps women out of seats of power and maintains the machismo effect. An examination of both nation’s culture stances on power and gender roles would help start the development of change that might bring down the masculinity index and assert more equality in the gender roles.
References:
Segrest, S. L., Romero, E. J., & Domke-Damonte, D. (2003). Exploring the role of machismo in gender discrimination: A comparison of Mexico and the U.S. Equal Opportunities International, 22(1), 13-31. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/10.1108/02610150310787298
Hi there. Good post. I could go on about President Trump for days and I agree with your assessment that he performs for the masculine which is a dangerous trend for women. In fact, Trump has a long history of Machismo dating back to the early 90’s. I’ve been following Donald Trump since 1982 when I was I 6th grade. One of our six grade assignments was to write about who we aspire to be when we grow up. One of the kids in my class, who was very charismatic, wanted to be Donald Trump because he was a weather entrepreneur. This kid even came to school with a box of candy to sell to students for a slightly higher price than the grocery store so that he could make a profit. He was quite ambitious and this was the first time I ever heard of Donald Trump.
Donald Trump became exceptionally popular in the early 90’s when he began an affair with Marla Maples while married to Ivan’s Trump. At the time, he became somewhat of a self admitted playboy which seemed a harmless exercise of his masculinity but it came at the expense of the women he denigrated publicly. As early as 1994, he bragged to Vanity Fair that he had “been in Europe f****** every model in the world” which couldn’t be a more degrading comment made about women (Sherman, 2019). Then in 2005, during an interview with Billy Bush, he bragged that he could forcibly kiss a women and “when you’re a star, they let you do it, You can do anything.” “Grab them by the p—y, you can do anything” (Farenthold, 2016).
Donald Trump’s behavior is synonymous of Machismo and the antithesis of diversity, inclusion and women’s rights. My examples above only scratch the surface of his degrading, offensive and arguably criminal behavior. It’s frightening that we elected a president who believes it’s ok to forcibly kiss a women or worse as described above. To your point in your blog, this is a dangerous precedent that could inspire violence towards women if it hasn’t already.
Ironically, today is Election Day and we have the power to vote this man out of office. We’ll see what happens. Stay tuned.
Farenthold, David. (2016). Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005. Washington Post. Retrieved from:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html
Sherman, Gabriel. (2019). Marla was under duress: Revealed in his Marla Maples prenup, Donald Trump’s Draconian art of the marriage deal. Vanity Fair. Retrieved from:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/06/marla-maple-prenup-donald-trump-marriage