As a cultural observer, it is exceedingly difficult not to take mental note of the advantages and disadvantages of practices and traditions within different societies. Social outings, business meetings, even trips to the supermarket, all subconsciously manifest themselves as opportunities to study and consider those involved.
My flaw, perhaps you could say, is my heightened sensitivity when it comes to male/female interaction in any of the above situations.
So how do we identify a machista society without drowning ourselves in a pool of exaggerated generalizations? Among other things, a machista society is one full of passion and an overhwhelming sense of attraction and sexual tension between men and women in day-to-day activities. This for me, is where it begins.
“Take a look at Mexico if you think Argentina is a machista country,” an Argentine said to me once. “Cat calling here is nothing in comparison.” On the one hand he was right. On the other, however, the matter in hand is – we are not in Mexico right now, we are in Argentina, or, to be more precise, Buenos Aires (still known to tourists and travelers as The Paris of the South). Machismo is something inherent in Argentine society, whether the capital city has “come a long way in the past thirty years” or not.
A city worldly renowned for its beautiful, perfectly petite women, Buenos Aires is not short of powerful feminine voices. However, it has been said that a good portion of these powerful voices, al fondo, or deep down, are frequently muffled due to their owners’ inherent necessity to “look good.” And what would be considered “looking good”? Well, certainly not bashing the F word* around the streets of Buenos Aires.
Accordingly, in 2006, BBC Buenos Aires correspondent Daniel Schweimler wrote: “Argentines are under enormous pressure to look good, but the downside is that the number of people suffering from eating disorders is one of the highest in the world, especially among girls.” Schweimler’s claims did not die out before 2010 arrived, nor 2011.
Does this deeper health condition inherent in so many Argentinian women have anything to do with the flaws of their machista surroundings?
“The majority of women here are under pressure to maintain their appearance due to a fear of rejection, which is generated in them from a delicately young age,” one Argentinian woman commented.
“If anything, this fear of rejection torments women involved in relationships with men more than those without partners,” she added.
We had embarked on an interesting concept and I began to evaluate what had been bothering me for quite some time. Why are relationships in machista societies such an internal struggle for not only the women involved, but the men too? Why are they inherently flawed?
The research continues…
*F is for feminist and not for the curse word that you were imagining. With that in mind, the use of this curse word would not be considered particularly feminine or attractive here, despite its universal popularity amongst both sexes.
