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Machismo and how the Family is Molded into Form: Analysis of Gender Roles Jered Pigeon Minnesota State University Moorhead Introduction “Machismo may appear to be a ubiquitous phenomenon among Mexican-American males but that is too simplistic to be useful and in reality far from being accurate” (Villereal, 2005). This article seeks to understand the word machismo, and from this small (pilot) qualitative study, I do not intend to generalize these findings to the entire Mexican population. I hold a neutral view on the concept of machismo, and I approached this project without personal bias, and did it totally to understand machismo, not to fix it. This study was conducted as part of a project option in qualitative methods class, and it is limited in scope because of its sample size. However, while these participants were answering the questions by themselves, they were giving what I call a “universal definition of machismo”, which allows for some broad generalizations that I elaborate on. The participants in this study were all contacted by myself and are members of a Latino community that I am familiar with. This study uses peer reviewed articles, face-to-face interviews, and prior formal and informal experience with the Mexican culture. The main instrument for this study was a questionnaire consisting of 15 items that yielded rich textual information on the definition of Machismo and how one defines his/her role in the family. I administered questions orally and introduced a follow-up question when it was necessary. A literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles was conducted which offered a similar definition of machismo. I also attempt to explore the relatively new and understudied concept of marianismo, the belief that the woman’s spiritual calling requires servitude to her spouse as is mandatory for an obedient woman. “Marianismo is the cult of female spiritual superiority which teaches that women are spiritually stronger than men” (Stevens 1