Micromachismos: 4 subtle signs of everyday machismo

Micromachismos refer to covert and culturally accepted sexist attitudes.

In several articles of Psychology and Mind we have talked about the different forms that machismo takes. In the different areas of life (work, family, social...), women have suffered, historically, a series of palpable discriminations that have relegated the female sex to stereotypes and secondary roles in society.

• For example, we recommend you to read: "Psychology of sexism: 5 sexist ideas that exist today".

Micromachismos: what are they, how do they manifest themselves?

The micromachismos are subtle manifestations of machismo, which often go completely unnoticed. It is a subway machismo, which does not raise our alarms most of the time.

The heteropatriarchal system in which we live permeates domestic life, work and even the way we communicate. In today's article we have proposed to analyze the main micromachismos suffered by women and some men who do not comply with heteropatriarchal gender roles.

Sexism in language

A classic demonstration of the machismo that in our everyday language, in our language, could be the preeminence of the preeminence of sexism in our language.This could be the preeminence of the masculine gender over the feminine, among other things. For example, let's look at a fictitious conversation that illustrates it:

- Mr. teacher, how can I make a word feminine?

- By starting from its masculine formula, and adding an "a" in place of the original "o".

- Understood, master. And the masculine, how is it formed?

- The masculine is not formed, the masculine exists.

This dialogue was written by Victoria Sau, and is a good example of the subtle machismo that our everyday language harbors. It is a machismo that does not kill, that is difficult to detect, and that is therefore commonly accepted culturally.

2. Gender roles

Micromachismos also come to light in the media and in advertising. As we know, the media try to have an impact on us, trying to sell us certain content and, also, certain notions about how we should behave and what we should think.

Recently, the hypermarket chain Hipercor made a gaffe that revolutionized the social networksIt put on sale two T-shirts for babies, one in blue and the other in pink. On the blue one, you could read: "Smart like daddy", and on the pink ones, "Pretty like mommy".

The case was reported in the media and Hipercor had to withdraw those articles, since it offended not only the feminist collective but any person with common sense. It was a micromachismo that fortunately was not culturally tolerated, and that placed women within the aesthetic stereotype.

Without leaving current affairs, it was also a scandal when El Corte Inglés offered in its stores a product marked as "special for women", a pack consisting of a broom and a dustpan. The same chain sold vacuum cleaners under the slogan: "Mom, you're the best".. As if vacuum cleaners were products designed exclusively for women.

More examples of micromachismos related to gender roles: in the vast majority of public toilets, the place for changing babies is located in the women's bathroom.. Perhaps we can assume that this is a trend that is not of great importance, but the truth is that this is precisely a micromachismo: a role that we have culturally assumed as natural, unquestionable. But have we stopped to think about it? These gender stereotypes are able to persist generation after generation precisely because of the naturalness with which we experience them.

3. Hypersexualization

Another blatant case of sexism occurred when Carrefour launched a swimsuit for girls aged ten to fourteen with padding in the bra area. It is hard to imagine that they could have tried to sell padded briefs for children.

Not to mention the number of times advertising uses female bodies to sell anything: cologne, alcohol, video games, clothing.... The female body is most often hypersexualized. and used as a lure for big brands in relation to the male body.

A micromachismo that is beginning to set off our alarms (and it was about time) is the fact that women are used as a sexual lure to attract audiences to nightclubs. There have been some notorious cases in this regard, which fortunately have outraged a large part of the population, causing several campaigns to be withdrawn and their authors to ask for forgiveness.

4. Use of public space

Machismo does not only affect how we use language, how we sell certain products or how we place each gender within certain roles and stereotypes. Many women also notice that the use of public space contains a certain amount of sexism..

For example, there is often open discussion in forums about the tendency of men to sit in public the tendency of men to sit with their legs wide apart in public seating areasFor example, in the subway, preventing the people sitting next to them from being minimally comfortable, and seeing their space invaded. It is something that can be a matter of debate, since it is not very clear that it is only men who sit invading other people's space, and if so, it could be due to certain anatomical characteristics of men. Or the tendency could simply be explained by a question of bad manners. It is difficult to clarify.

In any case, it is possible that this type of phenomena occurs, in which women are undervalued and little taken into account in public. Of course, the constant harassment suffered by women when they walk down the street, the compliments and other behaviors that, in my opinion, constitute a clear machismo and, fortunately, are increasingly recognized and repudiated by society, would not fit into the category of micromachismo.

Where does the concept of 'micromachismo' come from?

The history of the term micromachismo dates back to 1990, when the Argentine psychologist Luis Bonino used it to define "those male behaviors that superimpose the authority of men over that of women". In this sense, Bonino points out that micromachismos "are everyday tyrannies, a type of soft and invisible violence, of low intensity", that cover reality in an imperceptible way and that travel parallel to the patriarchal logic of our society.

Precisely It is precisely the ease with which these micromachismos are camouflaged where their danger residesIt is precisely the ease with which these micromachismos are camouflaged where their danger lies, because they generate invisible harm to the female sex and to anyone who does not conform to the gender role that has been socially assigned to them. In the case of women, this role tends to be that of caregivers, weak, submissive, secondary...

Another way of classifying micromachismos

Luis Bonino and other psychologists have proposed another criterion to classify these everyday machismos:

1. Utilitarian

They are used in the domestic sphere and refers to the fact that men tend to make women responsible for caregiving and housework.. They tend to do so by appealing to women's "greater capacity" to iron, wash, take care of the elderly or cook.

This may seem to be clear machismo, and not micromachismo, but it can occur under very subtle forms, such as the husband who tells his wife: "Wait, I'll help you hang the clothes" or "I love the way you cook, I prefer you to do it yourself because you do it very well".

2. Subtleties with a macho bias

These are particularly subtle micromachisms, which aim to impose the sexist ideology and undervalue the role of women in society (whether in the workplace, at work, in the family, or in the community). (whether in the workplace, in relationships, at work...).

Silences, using paternalistic communication or contemptuously ignoring a woman because she is a woman are sexist subtleties. So is using demeaning humor toward the female gender.

3. Coercive

In this type of micromachismos, the man exerts a moral, psychological or economic pressure to impose his power on that of the woman..

They can be observed when the man sits in the best armchair in the living room, controls the TV remote control or occupies more space in public places (such as in the subway, as we have already mentioned).