Machismo and Chicano/a gangs: Symbolic resistance or oppression?

Abstract

Both machismo and gang violence have been widely discussed in the popular and social science literature. Scholars have not systematically addressed the meanings of machismo held by gang members. We interviewed 25 Chicano/a and Mejicano/a gang members and 20 adult youth service workers and neighborhood providers, explicitly asking fortheirdefinitions of machismo. Wefmd both similarities and variations across generational and gender groups in our sample Using the both/and approach of Patricia Hill Collins (1991 ). We analyzed the simultaneously oppositional and oppressive nature of machismo in the lives of these young men and women. Our study reveals the complexity and contradictions inherent in machismo and related characteristics, and their implications for positive social change.