A New Masculinity

-Mary Beth
                      In Borderlands La Frontera (2007), Chicana author, Gloria Anzaldua, addresses the social construction of masculinity in the Hispanic culture in terms of aggression and frustration. She informs readers that her culture is very different from the others in it's sense of values and beliefs pertaining to gender roles. In no way, shape or form does she agree with it's ways, yet she "understands" the root of the male hatred and fear behind violent acts committed against women.
                      Anzaldua explains that being a woman is being seen as "defective" in her culture. The opposite, "being macho" is respected. Yet, she stresses that being macho is no easy task. In the words of the author, being macho means "being strong enough to protect and support a wife and children." In the economy we live in today, this is not always an easy task. A male's sense of masculinity is jeopardized when he cannot provide monetarily for his family, which is sometimes impossible despite valiant efforts. Thus, a Chicano male may suffer from feelings of "inadequacy, inferiority and powerlessness." This loss of dignity and respect may lead him to put down women or even to brutalize them. They become an outlet for frustration. Despite how much a man may love his wife, the culture has ostracized him to a point of violence and wrecklessness.
                    Although this cultural phenomenon is one that can be applied to many ethnicities, Anzaldua explains that the Mestizo culture is one that sees it's effects more than others. She explains that in her culture and the church insist that women are subservient to males." What I found much different from my own white, byzatine christian background, were the things that the author heard discussed frequently in her culture pretaining to violence against women by their husbands:

"How many times have I heard mothers and mothers-in-law tell their sons to beat their wives for not obeying them, for being bociconas (big mouths), for being callejaras (going to visit and gossip with neighbors), for expecting their husbands to help with the rearing of children and the housework, for wanting to be something other than housewives"

I found this appaling. In such a traditional cultures, such as hers, straying from established gender roles within a marriage is considered unacceptable. Coming from a household where my mother is the primary breadwinner, I found this concept difficult to grasp. Never has my father put a hand on my mother for "wanting to be something other than a housewife." In fact, while she was away, hard at work, he took over many of the household duties that are traditionally assigned to the woman, and also was the parent who I accredit for raising me the most.
              In taking over my mother's household responsibilities, my father was culturally jeopardizing his masculinity. He still worked and provided for his family, yet, he also exemplified a certain tenderness towards me, his daughter. This tenderness and vulnerability is something feared in the eyes of a Chicano male. This shows that in some instances, "men, even more than women, are fettered to gender roles." I can firmly agree with Anzaldua in the sense that a new masculinity needs to be esablished within society to rid the gender roles that have been socially constructed. Acceptance of behaviors that have been considered feminine in the past should be looked upon in a new light, because some of such behaviors, for instance, love, compassion and service, are not female traits, but human ones.