Group items tagged

Many people in Latin America are living with HIV and although this region is often overlooked, it has a very high number of people living with the disease. Most levels of the infection in Latin America are found in men who have sex with men or MSM. This information, though, is often hidden due to the 'machismo' culture of men in Latin America.

this article talks about the prevelance of HIV/AIDS in latin america. It says that HIV is found mostley in "men who have sex with other men" and how not many people know this because of the machismo mentality in latin america.

More than half of Latin Americans living with HIV live in the regions four largest countries. The highest levels of HIV are found within men who have sex with men. Latin American countries make little effort to provide AID services that address the needs of men who are sexually active with other men. Drug use is also a major factor in the spread of HIV.

In this article from The New York Times in January 1993, the rise of AIDS in women in Latin America is discussed. Similarly to in Gutmann's findings, the fidelity of husbands is questioned as the reason for the rise in women's infections. With men having sexual affairs, they are contributing to the rise of AIDS in females.

This web source highlights the psychological impact of being a gay man or lesbian in a Latin American country. As we primarily study the anthropological views of Latin American men, this source details the importance of psychology in both men and women. It is a very interesting and different take than what I think we will learn in class.

A press release from the World Health Organization highlights the need for stronger Sexual Education in Latin America and the Carribean. The press release talks about the statistics of contracting HIV, and how programs can be implemented to cut down on the number of transmissions. One of the highlighted vulnerable groups for contracting HIV is sex workers and "men who have sex with men", the latter being connected strongly with the first chapter of "Fixing Men".

This discussion talks about the "never say no" attitude of the macho Latin American culture. It also talks about the risks involved in this type of culture. In this article, Gonzales discusses the possibility of men taking on this macho attitude in order to be socially accepted by other men.

The macho culture of Latin America can be traced back to the time of the Conquistadors. Maria Elena Ramos Tovar addresses that at the time of the conquistadors men dominated women through their masculinity. In today's Mexican culture the movies from Hollywood and those produced in the country portray the image of man, which in turn reinforces the preexisting image of the 'machismo' in Mexican culture. Longevity of the ideals of machismo are being confronted by the women in Mexican society and this can be seen in the levels of divorce rates in the society. Women are becoming less tolerant of men who retain the image of macho. This article does a comparative analysis between the male dominance in the Mexican culture versus the culture in the Nigerian village of Lagos.

Although the previously bookmarked article seeks to establish an outline of the human or women rights violations that occur within Guatemala, here, author Karim Velasco, sheds light upon newly distinguished laws and explains despite their hopeful goals, why they have ceased to work effectively. She argues that because of the "lack of effective investigation and prevention strategies of the Guatemalan authorities", women continue to be raped, tortured, and murdered at an increasing rate. Because of pressures from the European Parliament to abide by human rights laws, "on April 9, 2008, Guatemalan Congressed passed the 'Law Against Femicide and other Forms of Violence against Women Act' to severely punish any kind of gender-based violence..." However, because the violence stems from the power inequality between men and women in the first place, there is little belief or evidence that this Act will be implemented or strongly enforced by the men in power who seek to represent masculinity or display a constant idea of machismo.

This article contains statistics about AIDS/HIV in the world but particularly focuses on the people of Latin America because of the high rates of the disease in these areas. It talks about how Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru are all countries where it is well known that men are having sex with other men, and this increases the spread of the disease. In countries like Bolivia and Peru in particular, the spread of the disease is linked to the vast amounts of unprotected sex and the use of intravenous drugs. The article also mentions that there are many misconceptions with AIDS/HIV in regards to how it is spread and through whom and by whom, and that many people are prejudiced into a certain way of thinking.

A radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and justice. Due to religious influences and beliefs, women do not have the rights to their bodies by law, so they seek alternative methods to have abortions, with a large number resulting in death. Similar to our discussion of sexual education in schools, the 'reality' does not match up with what is taught in schools (especially Catholic ones). Instead of being proactive and preventative, abstinence is taught. iolence against women is coming to the forefront as a major concern in Latin America. Termed "femicide," violence against women by men because they are women is a poor result of the hierarchy of the cultural society in Latin America. Machismo and masculinity influence men to feel that they must act this way from a young way in order to exert their power and strength, but it is unacceptable. This article also discusses women's movements and their fight for equal rights as well as rights to maternity leave and other aspects that women who work must take into account.

This source is a network of Latino males who seek to change the way men (specifically Latino men) are viewed as dominated by volatile sexuality. They work to educate male children and provide them with stable, male mentors, and in doing so seek to improve the lives of families and communities .

This site contains an article based on the contemporary perspectives of men and masculinity in Latin American Countries. Detailing numerous countries like Brazil and Mexico, you can see the similarities and differences of what masculine identity is to each individual country or culture. "The materials analyzed are organized around the principal themes within which studies of masculinity in Latin America have been framed, namely the construction of masculine identity, fatherhood, practices and representations, homosocial spaces of masculinity, reproductive health, and masculine sexuality."

This article discusses family planning laws being enforced in Guatemala and the Catholic churches response to it. Birth control methods would be available to the public and sexual education would be incorporated into schools. Even though the Catholic Church is fighting against the law, many are happy because it will decrease abortion, poverty, and maternal mortality rates. As we continue to read Fixing Men, we can look at reproductive health reformations in other Latin American countries and see how people respond to them.

AIDS among men throws Mexico for a loop.

This article discusses the recent homicide of french filmmaker, Christian Poveda, who was killed by a gang/mara in El Salvador. Gang violence in El Salvador commits one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America. This article draws attention to the reasons why boys join gangs; which we can discuss in relation to men and violence in Latin America and the growing violence in El Salvador after its civil war.

This article discusses man's desire to be "separated" from traits associated with women in Mexico. Mexican men tend to be stereotyped as "Machismo" and want to be sexually dominant in all that they do.

This is a radio show discussing the violence against women as a result of the machismo culture. It also discusses a group of men from Nicaragua that are participating in a program to "unlearn" the aspects of being macho.

This article discusses the struggle to change women's roles in Latin American countries. The main portion of discussion addressing equality for women exist in a mainly academic atmosphere and there is a need to spread to a media more targeted in toward the general population. As long as the stereotypes of men and women remained unaddressed violence toward women and their expectations as only domestic beings will endure.

This article discusses the change that happens when Latino men convert to Evangelical Christianity, and the effects it has on women and family life. Because Evangelical beliefs consider drinking and partying is wrong, the man stays home with his family. Women also become more confidant of speaking out against their husbands to keep them in line, and not to fall back to their old ways. An interesting point that was made in the article was the relief that men felt when going away from their machismo ways- "In Colombia, machismo is, over the long run, very demanding and difficult for all under its sway, including the males who must perform this role"

In Venezuela's capital, Caracas, there has been a dramatic increase in violent crime over the past decade. There have been examples of crimes on the street where a teenager was shot dead in his wheelchair and men being hung to death by the attackers for his motorbike. Many people of Caracas have resorted to self defense classes due to the poor security and increasing crime rate in the city. These forms of self defense range from Indian wrestling, kick-boxing, karate, and martial arts. Although the rate of self defense is increasing, there doesn't seem to be any noticeable improvement in the security as of now.