You’ve heard of machismo, but have you heard of marianismo?
Marianismo culture is widespread throughout Latin America, where 57% of the population identifies as Catholic, and is the belief that women should emulate the values represented by the Virgin Mary, such as selflessness, chastity, submissiveness, and hyper femininity. Even if you’ve never heard the term before, as a Latina woman the odds are high that Marianismo affects you and your relationships.
Keep reading to learn more about the history of Marianismo and how it might be playing a role in your life.
What is Marianismo?
Evelyn Stevens, American scholar and political scientist, coined the term Marianismo in 1973 in her article Marianismo: The Other Face of Machismo in Latin America. She defines it as “the cult of feminine spiritual superiority, which teaches that women are semi-divine, morally superior and spiritually stronger than men.”
These ideas, however, date back to colonization, when the Roman Catholic Spanish arrived in what is now Latin America. They brought their bibles and their art and their veneration of The Virgin Mary. Catholics believe that Mary made the ultimate commitment to God and agreed to bear his son, Jesus Christ. She is held up as the perfect example of a pure, virtuous, devout, and self-sacrificing woman, a figure that all good Catholic women should aspire to emulate.
Today, this concept is deeply embedded in Latine culture and most girls are raised with these virtues in mind. Though the number of people in Latin America who identify as Catholic has declined in recent years (from 70% in 2010 to 57% in 2020), the Catholic Church still has an outsized influence on Latin American culture and politics.
Pillars of Marianismo
- Family pillar: Marianismo holds up the belief that women should be dedicated to their families above all else. A good woman is fully invested in taking care of her immediate family as well as parents and any other family members in need. Self-sacrifice, i.e. consistently putting others above yourself, is something to be admired and encouraged.
- Virtuous and chaste: Unsurprisingly, one major tenant of Marianismo is the belief that women should be virgins until they marry, and sexual freedom or liberation is frowned upon. The same does not apply for men, who are expected to experiment before marriage, but women should be “pure” and “innocent” when they walk down the aisle. Even when married, women are not supposed to enjoy sex or have sexual desires. They are supposed to view sex as a means of procreation and nothing more.
In addition, because women are expected to stay with their first sexual partner forever, they are much less likely to leave an abusive relationship.
- Subordinate to others: this is the belief that Latina women should respect traditional hierarchical gender power structures, i.e. women should defer to men and be obedient. This normalization of men’s power and control can also make women more vulnerable to domestic abuse.
- Self-silencing to maintain harmony: In Marianismo, women are supposed to be soft-spoken and submissive. They need to keep their opinions to themselves in order to avoid conflict and keep the peace.
- Spiritual pillar: Latina women are expected to be the spiritual leaders of their families, i.e. getting everyone to church on Sunday, making sure their children grow up “Good Catholics,” etc.
How Marianismo affects Latina women
The expectations for women in Marianismo culture are impossible standards, and trying to live up to them has serious consequences for your mental health.
Burn out
There’s nothing wrong with being a caring, kind person who is concerned about the well-being of their family members and other loved ones. If you don’t take care of yourself, however, you’ll quickly become burnt out, resentful, anxious, or depressed.
It’s unrealistic to expect women to shoulder the entire burden of caregiving. Nor do all women want to be mothers, and that’s okay. These ideas corral women into being one kind of person, and simply don’t represent the complexity of women’s desires, goals, ambitions, and emotions.
Sexual repression
The idea that women are supposed to be pure and virtuous and men are the only ones with sexual desire is also problematic. Sexual desire is normal and natural in women, and trying to repress your sexuality can lead to mental health problems.
Gender-based violence
Because women raised in Marianismo culture are expected not to voice their opinions or speak up, they are more likely to become targets of gender-based violence. In a situation of domestic abuse, for example, she’s less likely to seek help or talk about what’s happening.
Marianismo and Latino couples
Marianismo and machismo are often at play in the dynamics between Latinas and their romantic partners. Traditional ideas about the strong man and the submissive woman run deep, and can be difficult to change.
Gender expectations
In a marriage, these stereotypes about who men and women are supposed to be almost inevitably lead to conflict, especially these days when women do have more opportunities than before.
In a couple where the woman earns more money, for example, her male partner might feel anxious and depressed because he’s not the primary breadwinner and not living up to the ideals he learned growing up with marianismo and machismo.
Staying in abusive relationships
Some studies suggest that the influence of Marianismo on young Latina immigrants in the United States may cause them to see themselves as responsible for maintaining the unity, privacy, and sanctity of their families despite abuse by their partners.
Those beliefs, combined with a lack of access to resources or a lack of knowledge about the resources available to them in a new country, make them less likely to seek help and more likely to experience emotional and mental distress.
Higher rates of depression
Research suggests that the self-silencing of Marianismo leads to poor mental health outcomes. Latina women, in an effort to maintain harmony, don’t speak up or voice their opinions with their romantic partner. While this might help them avoid conflict, it contributes to a loss of their sense of self, which can cause depression and anxiety.
Changing values and beliefs
It’s important to note that if these beliefs resonate with you or you were raised this way, it’s not anyone’s fault. These are deeply ingrained beliefs that most people aren’t even aware of, and normalizes behaviors that are problematic. The first step is learning about the cultural context of these issues, and then identifying how they might be playing out in your relationship.
Marianismo and machismo do run deep in Latina culture, but that doesn’t mean these beliefs and ideas will be around forever. More and more people all over Latin America and Latinos in the United States are speaking up, marching, and demanding equal rights for women and girls. Latina girls are growing up with very different ideas about what it means to be a woman, and we hope that one day, Marianismo and machismo will be relics of the past.
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” – Arundhati Roy
If you are experiencing conflicts in your relationship and you need some guidance, Aldea can help. We’re an organization of Latina women committed to lifting each other up with a transformative program that combines professional resources, personal coaching, and individual and community empowerment.
If you’re interested in our program, check out The Program section of the website or send us a message.
Sources:
‘Marianismo’ Culture in the Latino Community and How It Impacts Mental Health
Self-Care & Marianismo: Tending to Mental Health in Latino/x Cultures
Marianismo, auto-silenciamiento, depresión y ansiedad en mujeres de Santa María de Dota, Costa Rica