Intro to machismo
Submitted by sball on Thu, 2012/02/23 - 08:56.
A stereotypical Latino male exudes the characteristics of strength, power and masculinity. Machismo, or a strong sense of masculine pride, encompasses this ideal. And in the family, these ideals are passed from father to son.
From The Huffington Post: Nicaraguan Dad Filmed Taking 16-Year-Old Son To Brothel To 'Become A Man' (VIDEO)
Wow - I'm still shaking my head over this one. You can judge for yourself.
Macho Man
Macho Man
Body...wanna feel my body? Body...such a thrill my body Body...wanna touch my body? Body...it's too much my body Check it out my body, body. Don't you doubt my body, body. talkin' bout my body, body, check it out my body
Every man wants to be a macho macho man to have the kind of body, always in demand Jogging in the mornings, go man go works out in the health spa, muscles glow You can best believe that, he's a macho man ready to get down with, anyone he can
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Macho, macho man (macho man) I've got to be, a macho man Macho, macho man I've got to be a macho! Ow....
Macho, macho man I've got to be, a macho man Macho, macho man (yeah, yeah) I've got to be a macho!
Body, its so hot, my body, Body, love to pop my body, Body, love to please my body, Body, don't you tease my body, Body, you'll adore my body, Body, come explore my body, Body, made by God, my body, Body, it's so good, my body
You can tell a macho, he has a funky walk his western shirts and leather, always look so boss Funky with his body, he's a king call him Mister Eagle, dig his chains You can best believe that, he's a macho man likes to be the leader, he never dresses grand
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Macho, macho man I've got to be, a macho man Macho, macho man I've got to be a macho! (all right)
Macho, macho man (yeah, yeah) I've got to be, a macho man Macho, macho man I've got to be a macho! All Right!
Ugh! Macho..baby! Body, body, body wanna feel my body, Body, body, body gonna thrill my body, Body, body, body don'tcha stop my body, Body, body, body it's so hot my body,
Every man ought to be a macho macho man, To live a life of freedom, machos make a stand, Have their own life style and ideals, Possess the strength and confidence, life's a steal, You can best believe that he's a macho man He's a special person in anybody's land.
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Macho, macho man (macho man) I've got to be, a macho man Macho, macho man I've got to be a macho! (dig the hair on my chest)
Macho, macho man (see my big thick mustache) I've got to be, a macho man Macho, macho man I've got to be a macho! (Dig broad shoulders)
Macho, macho man (dig my muscles!) I've got to be, a macho man Macho, macho man I've got to be a macho!
Macho, macho man I've got to be, a macho man Macho, macho man I've got to be a macho! HEY!
"Maybe, just once, someone will call me 'sir' without adding, 'you're making a scene." -Homer J. Simpson
As passage rites go...
it could be worse...
I think most on NL saw this
I think most on NL saw this video a few months ago... as the website that hosted this and other similar Nica interest peices was posted awhile ago.
It's up to parents to teach their kids, and some lessons have to be delegated to others to teach. This way does seem better than marrying the first woman, the Nica slang translation is, he "dates", and then hates her the rest of his life. Paradise by the dashboard light this isn't.
My initiation to manhood was graduating from boot camp; his from a brothel. I bet was in the leaning rest longer than he was though!
Not Sure This is Such a Bad Idea.
There is something to be said for a young man -- or a young woman -- being initiated into sex by an experienced older person. A professional sex worker -- at least one with a heart -- could introduce a young person to the use of contraceptives and the avoidance of sexual diseases, not to mention actually teach them something about the fine art of making love.
Anyone can stand up on a dance floor and shake their body, but it takes concentrated attention, a lot of practice and maybe a few professional lessons to become a good dancer.
In my own experience, the Catholic Church spent 14 years or more telling us kids how sinful sex is and totally forbade us knowledge about contraception and avoidance of SDs, much less knowledge about how to actually enjoy it and please one's partner. This leads to quick and diry "Slam, bang, Thank you Mam" performances from many men, fear and sexual dissatisfaction in their partners, and likely shame and guilt in both.
Our sexuality is a fundamental, wholly natural aspect of being human. It can be a beautiful act of human sharing. I don't undertand why most of the world's religions are so ashamed of it, claiming its un-married participants are sinners and headed for the fires of hell.
In the Catholic Church, at least, even married ones are virtually forbidden sexual pleasure unless it leads to babies who can then become additional, tith-paying members to the patriarchal church's treasury. That is why the Catholic Church forbids its priests to marry, it wants to spare itself the financial loss of supporting wives and children. As with everything political (and the Catholic Church has been a political institution for over 1500 years), the key is to follow the money. I suspect the Catholic Church rails so strongly against homosexual sexuality because it doesn't lead to babies, thus reducing the potential pool of their new tith-paying recruits.
Not only do we need a new, human political and economic system, sans medieval religious dogma, but we need to encourage new, healthy attitudes to human sexuality. If a professional sex worker can help that process, everyone would benefit. Time to treat initiation into sex like learning to be a good (and careful) dancer! A few lessons from a professional could really help.
Must be my Roman Catholic upbringing, alter boy, etc,....
but MY Church has always preached that sex was dirty or forbidden (don't soil thy self! its a SIN! Eternal Fire!) but;...as a Dad of two daughters that I reared without their mother's presence, I would have felt/feel, hum, ashamed to think of taking my girls to a "worker". Though, intellectually, I can see the benefits of careful training ~ driving, parenting, weapons skills (Bull's, or is it, Cow's eye!?) etc. Anyone that says that many churches do not use fear as the baton (symbolism?) of intimidation, I believe that person to be in denial with diminished critical thinking skills. Wasting one's breath and time on re-educating here is ill spent. That door is closed. Hell, (oops!) my Church preached that sex between married couples was a Mortal Sin if my WIFE and I did "it" for pleasure ~ and not soully for pro-creation ~ UNTIL THE 1950s, EARLY 60s. Local priests here, as with birth control, tended to go blind to the Papal "See" on this issue. The only inelastic directive was that I must raise my children in the One True Church.
That Church
No "believer" believes his or her religion is ashamed of sex; it is only non-believers who believe believers are ashamed of sex due to their religion. Since most non-believers cannot really explain any religious belief, their opinion on the matter is usually only taken seriously -if at all- by other non-believers, by other people who also cannot explain any religious belief (which is partly why believers and non-believers so rarely ever have productive conversations). Countless Christians practiced celibacy long before it was ever required of Priests; their reasons, as with the Churches reasons, are not based in economics. Clerical celibacy (Catholic or otherwise) predates Church ward status by many a century; it has nothing to do with financial concerns. Married Priests would not be a hardship on the Catholic Church per se, mostly because the Catholic Church proper would not pay them, just as the Catholic Church proper does not pay the current unmarried Priests (Diocesan or Professed). A Diocesan or secular priest, due to the nature of the work, doesn't hold a vow of poverty, but a common U.S. salary is $1500 monthly, which is taxed (doubly for social security). Professed Priests are paid a token salary, often $99 monthly, as they hold a vow of poverty, etc. – so this money cannot be spent on themselves anyway. These payments do not originate at or get distributed via Rome; the monies are tied to a local Church, Parish, Diocese, etc. Adding a spouse and/or child to the religious parish model -which, financially, only takes care of life-needs- would not be a hardship on Rome as they would not pay it. Payments, including long-term ones such as health insurance, housing, retirement, etc., all go Parish to Diocese to Priest, direct - and Parish monies come from members of that Parish. At the local level, one would be hard-pressed to find anyone arguing against the married-priest option due to economic concerns. While there are many arguments for-against celibacy, any one tied to financials carries little weight at all, except perhaps outside the Catholic Church – but those on the outside are irrelevant to the concern.
Accepting yourself
As I watched the video I was thinking about how up tight things were when I was growing up in the US. For example, I was probably 18 when my dad decided, very uncomfortably, that he needed to talk to me about sex. He seemed very releived when I told him that "I knew that stuff already". (I had been fortunate enough to have had an older, non-virgin girlfriend.)
In the US I grew up in, men didn't admit they were virgins and women didn't admit they had periods. Here, people seem a bit closer to real life. I still remember the day that my dog Carlos stuck his nose into the crotch of a teenage Nicaraguan girl and her response was "he must smell the blood".
I don't have the ultimate answer for everyone but it is clear to me that the environment I grew up in just wasn't healthy. It could best be summarized as "girls don't want to have sex and boys need to find a way to trick them into having it."
Not just Latino Dads
In La Ceiba, Honduras, I met a father & son team engaged in the same 'rite of passage' with the local prostitutes. Gringos from Florida, neither spoke much Spanish. Sharing a 'house' (rental rooms) I was their reluctant translator during 'breaks'. It was pathetic.
I'd like to see a word that corresponds to Machismo but applies to the super sexy females in this neck of the world. Hembrisisima?
I am amazed
there are 16 year old virgin boys in nicaragua. My bit of machismo: Only in Nicaragua someone would pay to have sex with a middle aged overweight Grandmother.
Strangely that was my first
Strangely that was my first reaction to the story too, he paying her??? As the father of two one 23 and one 16 I was actually a little surprised at a 16 year old virgin very uncommon here in Canada I think. Still think it's kind of a creepy thing to do with your dad though but is common in many cultures, several of my greek friends in high school had similar experience.
Family Responsibility
Here there is a lot more parential responsibility. In the US dad would just tell the kid to join the Army so he could learn these things (and worse) in a different country. :-)