machismo

I have read a few articles about machismo. First I would like to rephrase something that I said in an earlier post. From the article (Urquieta-Salomon, J, Tephichin-Valle, A, & Tellez-Rojo, M. (2008). Poverty and gender perspective in productive projects for rural women in mexico: impact evaluation of a pilot project. Evaluation Review, 33(1), 27-53.) I said that the women are not capable of advancing or learning new skills in order to get out of the poverty that they currently face. I did not mean it in that I  think that they are not capable. I was reporting the findings from the article. They found that the programs that they implemented were not successful because of the limited capacities that the women had and they had never been taught to increase their skill set. Etc. I personally think that women can help themselves and are very capable of learning new skill sets etc especially when it comes to helping their families. The article didn’t support this idea. Either way, I feel like I will see better what the women are like in Mexico and how they respond to things like machismo as well as traditions or changing traditions etc when I get there. Maybe my ideas and thinking will change.

As far as the article that I just recently read for today (LaFranchi, H. (1999). Woman cracks mexico's 'machismo'. Christian Science Monitor, 91(171), Retrieved from https://www.lib.byu.edu/cgi- bin/remoteauth.pl url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mih&AN=2083434&site=ehost-live&scope=site">Womancracks Mexico's `machismo.')I think that it shows the changes that Mexico is encountering while also showing how Mexico is slow to change. First off I feel that it is important for me to say that while I try to look at cultures and other ways of thinking objectively, I would not be honest if I did not say that I hate Machismo and sexism and the problems that come with it. With that said, I feel like I need to try to put my feelings aside in order to try not to judge the people and also to try and understand how and why they do what they do. It has been a concern of mine, how the Mexican people will react to me- as an educated woman trying to take measurements and collect data etc. I honestly have no idea if my gender will be a problem for them. But what I can try to make sure of is that there ideas about my gender do not become a problem for me. I have a higher goal in mind and if I allow my pride to get in the way and try to play a role that for them is not comfortable, they will not be so interested in helping me out.

Anyway, some of my thoughts however are as follows. Who says that a woman playing a traditional role in the home is a bad thing? In all honesty, this is somewhat of a personal dilemma that I have faced while trying to prepare for my career and simultaneously prepare for a family. I feel like the most important thing to look at is whether the people are happy. For instance, in the article “Woman Cracks Mexico’s ‘Machismo,’” it is stated that women are just as likely as men to support the traditional role of women in the home and well as vote for male leaders instead of female leaders. Women seem to be okay with this. (Okay, I’m sure that any radical feminist could come up with many reasons why women are okay with this. They are not allowed to be educated. They are brainwashed. I don’t know.—and I’ll be honest. It is not hard for me to think these same things. The oppression of women is real and not right.— are these women being oppressed? Who am I to judge?) Women may be just as happy staying at home with their children than men are going to work. In fact, one benefit to this idea is that women know their role and men know their role. Some of the confusion that comes with non-traditional roles would be absent. Also, in several articles I have read it shows that women usually get lower levels of education than their husbands. Maybe this does not bother them. I guess my point is that I cannot judge whether it is right or wrong. I think that the most important thing is whether the people are happy in the society and roles that they are in. While I am living with them, I also will better learn these roles and try to fit into them as well as I can.