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Why is Machismo so prevalent within US Mexican Chicano/a/x culture? How often does it interfere with Queer Mexicans who are raised within gendered households?

Growing up, these gender roles were heavily imposed on my older family members and I've just always wondered why. Later on during my research, I learned about the Muxes, the third gender of Oaxaca, Mexico and my curiosity only got stronger.

How much trauma is rooted within Machismo culture that many Mexicans Chicano/a/x people live with, queer OR heterosexual?

In my experience, my family didn't understand my fascination with presenting feminine which made me feel isolated. But also, many of my friends who were also Mexican and girls complained how they felt trapped due to their parents making them stay home while their brothers got to go out and do as they please, which made me ask the question of how much EVERYONE suffers from these ideologies.

How often do sexist gender roles get in the way of people's journey to self-identity within US Mexican and/or Chicano/a/x households?

When these societal expectations are constantly shown and normalized yet you don't necessarily agree with them, it makes it harder for you to truly understand and accept yourself (such as myself).

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A lot of my research will come from either first hand accounts or various stories from other queer US based Mexicans, that being either just them talking about their issues or telling us a story as an artistic expression. My findings come from various Google searches about Mexicans and queer culture, along with some ideas and classmates and professors suggesting authors to read up on for stories to connect with my own. As of now, I have looked into three possible authors (two come from Dr. Loya, thank you!) and currently researching a third author who came up on related searches. I plan on having stories either written or based in the early 2000s to the modern day (2024) from authors who were raised in a Mexican-centered household, although the author does not have to be queer it is a preference. I pick these criteria because my story is based around my personal experience, which takes place in the 2000s/2010s, and being a queer raised in a Mexican household, I wish to look into those stories of people with similar experiences to better understand how much gender truly does have a chokehold on US Mexican culture with the idea of rhetoric in mind.

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Nuñez, Alicia et al. “Machismo, Marianismo, and Negative Cognitive-Emotional Factors: Findings From the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sociocultural Ancillary Study.” Journal of Latina/o psychology vol. 4,4 (2016): 202-217. doi:10.1037/lat0000050

Coleman, Eli. Et Al. Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender-Nonconforming People. International Journal of Transgenderism, 2012.

Kaur, Harmeet. “This Community in Southern Mexico Has Defied the Gender Binary for Generations.” CNN Travel, 7 Apr. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/muxes-mexico-gender-binary-cec/index.html. Accessed 2 Nov. 2024.

Wilson, Shawn. Research Is Ceremony. Fernwood Publishing, 2008.

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My story is called “Skins” and it's meant to be a Psychological bodily horror about a person suffering from Dysphoria, hating how they look. The story starts with the main character getting ready in the bathroom and looking into the mirror, leaving the main character a little vague so anyone could be immersed in the story. When they look into the mirror, their reflection starts to distort, creating false images of insecurities that they have. Throughout the story, the main character tries and talk themselves out of it but in their mind, their reflection keeps spouting insecurities and then slowly things people in their life have said (I.e “You know that a lady's dress right?”) until the main character is finally able to snap out of it and leave the bathroom.

While a lot of this story comes from personal experience, Mexican culture didn't always have gendered roles. Marianismo (The female gender role of Machismo) has similar ideas to the Christian beliefs of the women being the homemaker, cooking for the family, and birthing many children brought to South America during Spanish colonization along with the Virgin Mary (Nuñez, Alicia, 2016). Machismo and Marianismo have been around for a while, but they weren't originally part of the Mexican culture but instead brought to them by colonization and the forced introduction to catholicism despite Mexico having a third gender way back to the Aztec days with art depicting Priset wearing clothes of another gender and even Aztec gods being both genders (Kaur, Harmeet 2023). We didn't always have a gendered culture, you could argue that the Aztecs were the first instance of gay culture, yet despite these ideologies that cause more harm than good, such as Mexican women experiencing depression twice the rate as men, why do we stick with it? (Nuñez, Alicia, 2016)

This story is meant to be a horror story yes, but at the same time an empowering story about challenging these gender norms and embracing oneself without worrying about if the shirt is a girl's or a boy's shirt. People also struggle with self-image, specifically with the body, with transgender people constantly under pressure to look “passing” enough that their body doesn't look enough of the desired gender or cisgender people not feeling enough for themselves that they aren't good enough in a sense. I want this story to be a motivational piece for the community, like your uncle giving you a pep talk, that no matter what or who says, you are beautiful.

The ideologies discussed within these few paragraphs show how much of an effect these roles have on a person and even their own culture. Before the Spanish came and colonized Southern America, there were the Muxes who were the third gender being born male but raised as a woman. They were once seen as a blessing for the family, not only caring for the parents or community members when they turn old but in more recent times the Muxes are a way for them to rebel against the ideas that colonizers have imposed on them. Sadly due to Machismo spreading, the Muxes faced many hardships from being isolated by family to possible hate crimes, when in fact this shouldn't even be a thing in the first place.

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My research methods, while chaotic and unorganized, work for me when it comes to gathering data to discuss Social gender issues within US Mexican/Chicano/a/x culture. One of the many ways I plan on gathering research was through simple media consumption such as reading stories from other Queer Indigenous authors, shows or movies directed by queer artists, or even going through forum pages from people's first-hand accounts of Gender issues (Specifically Machismo) within Mexican Culture that they have experienced. But that's not all, using Wilson's methods in his book “Research in Ceremony” will help me better understand the material I will be presenting. Utilizing the IRM (Indigenous Research Methods) that Wilson talks about in his book will help me connect not just to the stories, but to my fellow readers on a deeper level.

There are 4 stages to IRM, the first stage being about the deconstruction of “Western standards” of research which Wilson talks about, meaning that instead of looking at the research we are conducting with a Western Academic perspective we should take off those glasses and try on others. The second stage talks about avoiding marginalization without the Western influences and the third stage is “decolonizing” the research, which says to not only take the Western methods and change them up for Indigenous research but to remember that these people have their worldview of everything different from the typical lens. The fourth stage is fully immersing yourself within the culture and then presenting that research and data, better to understand the lives and culture of indigenous people you must be able to connect with their ways of life on a much deeper level than pen and paper, but body and soul as well. With these research methods I could connect to my topic in a much better way without feeling like I am filtering anything, despite using my own experiences to write this project these methods have helped me have a better understanding of not just myself and my struggles but also others with their stories as well.