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Blog from 2008: Growing acceptance of homosexuals in Latin America

This article focuses on how the idea of masculinity or "machismo" influences domestic violence. If a man does not fight back or show his strength then he is not considered a man in the Dominican Republic culture. This article also explores how difficult it is for women to get recognized in Latino culture due to its patriarchal society. Women have to work twice as hard to succeed than men do.

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 website offers an in-depth definition of machismo, how it was constructed and how it affects feminism. This article also explores the causes of the "Macho man". Mostly however, this article discusses the affects of the "Machismo" on women's identities over the years.

This article focus's on war and nation states in Latin America. Some of the main concepts are on making war, the state, the nation, and on making the citizens. This article fully outlines the types of war Latin America is involved with, who precisely is involved, and what those people think about themselves and their actions. It also portrays the effects war has on Latin American countries-its advantages and disadvantages.

This article is from 2006, when Maria Teresa Fernandez was allowed to become a judge, which Spanish Law had previously banned. I think it relates to the course because, even though it is in Spain, the machismo culture still exists, and this demonstrates how women's rights are threatening the strength of the machismo culture.

This article discusses how the Machismo culture in Latin America is causing health problems and cutting life expectancies. Being macho means to attract lots of women and to never show any weakness. This need to be tough is causing problems for men.

In most of Latin America, abortions are a crime, but this does not decrease the amount of abortions that are performed. Criminalizing abortion has become increasingly dangerous, especially in an area where there is little sex education and women are kept from using contraception. Up to 5,000 women die each year and thousands are hospitalized.

In most of the region of Latin America abortions are a crime, but criminalizing abortion doesn't decrease abortion rates and only endangers the lives of women. The abortion rate is far higher than in Western Europe or the United States. In Columbia, abortions are illegal even if a woman's life is in jeopardy. There is little sex education and social taboos keep unmarried women from exploring the options of contraception. Up to 5,000 women die each year from abortions in Latin America, and thousands more are hospitalized. In Cuba, however, abortion is legal on request. Latin Americans are looking at abortion as an issue of maternal mortality.

This excerpt attempts to define the word "machismo" in the Latin American culture. It goes on to describe how "machismo" is a main influence in making a man a "real man". A survey is taken in two different locations, reaffirming the idea of a machismo male-dominated society.

This source is about the widespread sexual exploitation of underage girls in Paraguay, and the systemic exploitation of women is closely related to how we construct our views of masculinity.

This article discusses discrimination against homosexuals in Mexico. San Francisco's Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has made several rulings granting asylum to gay or transsexual applicants from Latin America, where violence against homosexual is common. Some of them have even been abused by the police.

President Lula of Brazil hopes to "pass a 'homophobia law' that would make it a crime to criticize homosexual behavior." Most homophobic criticism stems from religious conservative groups. This is a primary goal of Lula's as an increasing number of murders have begun to result from hatred and prejudice against homosexuals over the past years.

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 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"

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.

An overview of the social roles of Venezuelan citizens, highlighting themes of urbanization and religion in a nation with rich supplies of natural oil reserves.