VivirLatino

I can’t be the only one who grew up having to cross out the “father” or the “papa” in the cards for today to write in the word “Papi.” For years I’ve been talking about how triflin’ the ideology of “machismo” is only assigned to Latino men, as if we have a monopoly on this idea of masculinity which is often focused only on the negative. I have yet to experience those negative characteristics that researchers (and now our community) claim make up the masculinity Latino men embody.

My Papi was nothing like what research would want me to believe. For this Papi’s Day I wrote a piece on what my machismo is and what it looks like. I know many of us have experienced forms of machismo that are filled with love, compassion, trust, and joy yet rarely have our narratives featured or shared. Here’s a bit of my testimonio. Felicidades to all the Papi’s today!

My machsimo is a pretty big deal. It looks like a six foot tall and three inch man who is in one word: huge. It is the kind of huge that we have been socialized to be scared of when we encounter, especially if we are alone, or it is dark. What my machismo knows is that my father speaks multiple languages, English being his third. He learned to speak English by listening to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He is an artist in every sense of the word and values paint, instruments, architecture, and the like. I grew up hearing music from all over the world and having every instrument available to me so that I could interact with and play it whenever I chose. There was art and music all around me growing up. Almost all of the art and music around me was created or produced by my father, his covers of songs, his attempts to learn the English language while still raising my sister and I with a sense of cultural pride for our community, language, and heritage. Read more…