Machos en Marias: culturele receptuur in de Latijnse Liefde. Een onderzoeksnotitie

Abstract

Cultural Formulas in Latin Love. A research note. Male-Female relationships in Latin America traditionally have been analyzed in terms of the machismo-marianismo cultural complex, with little awareness of the lack of consistency in the complex itself and of the gap between cultural dictates and reality. A sample of fotonovelas, published in the beginning of the 1980's, enabled us to analyse the cultural complex and find indication of a ’possible culture drift entailing a gradual change in role conceptions. The novelas were shown to offer little consistency in the definition of preferable male or female behavior. The influence of machismo and marianismo in styling opinions and behavior of the main characters was rather slight. Those looking for the typical Latin Lovers may find themselves to be embracing a myth.