Machismo in Brazil
Machismo is the idea that men enjoy a superior status in a society and are made to be a certain way: masculine, assertive, and even imposing. The economic dependence of women is overwhelming in Brazil. Most women are housewives, devoting all of their time to taking care of their houses and their children. Only 18 percent of women are employed outside of the home in Brazil, creating the old idea of having a man of the house. This phenomenon has affected women tremendously, creating double standards in sexuality in Brazil. Men are allowed to be as active as they want, and are usually encouraged to be as active as possible, while women are supposed to be passive in their sexual activity.
This society seems very hypocritical in its standards. The culture encourages an exhibition of the female body on several occasions, the most famous of course, being the Brazilian Carnaval (Mardi Gras), where women usually at least half naked and painted dance on big floats in front of millions of people. Yet, this same culture encourages, with its Catholic influence, women to preserve their virginity, having as limited numbers of partners as possible. Women use hormonal contraceptives, but abortion is not legal and is a taboo in this society.
Behaviors and the Church
While Brazilians choose to ignore the church on some instances, there are others in which there is an absolute agreement with what the Church says. While most of the population is Catholic (73%), Evangelicals make up the vast remainder of religious views in the country. Both religions condemn autoerotic behaviors, where children seek to explore their own bodies, often leading to masturbation. This creates another taboo in this society, where neither men, but especially women, should not engage in autoerotic behavior.
The Institute of Market Research of São Paulo also shows in a survey that 23.5% of the residents of São Paulo, or Paulistanos, 12.6% of the residents of Rio de Janeiro, or Cariocas and 18.8% of Brazilians from other cities consider oral sex abnormal. 53% of Paulistanos, 38.6% of Cariocas and 45.7% of Brazilians in other cities consider anal sex abnormal. Anything that seems unnecessary to reproduction is often considered out of the norm and inappropriate sexual behavior.Homosexuality and Bisexuality
Monogamy is the only way to go according to the norms in Brazilian society, both bigamy and polygamy are illegal. There is a definite pressure to get married, for both men and women. While men are usually accepted as getting married older, women are usually too old to get married once they reach their late twenties. Homosexuality is as a result, condemned due to the impossibility of marriage that goes along with being gay, since gay marriage is not legal.
Machismo does not only affect women greatly, but certainly is of great importance to homosexuals. Men are supposed to be extremely masculine and any behavior that goes against that preconception is highly condemned, and is used as a motive to use terms like viado (deer), or bicha (queer, or faggot). If two gay men are a couple, they are absolutely not allowed to walk around hand in hand, or show any public displays of affection, as it will surely create potential for violence.However, men that have sex with other men, with the condition that they exercise phallic dominance, are the bofes, or entendidos. These men are considered straight and masculine even though they have sex with other men. Yet, two of these men cannot have sex together, because the one that is submissive in intercourse is definitely considered a gay man. This bisexual activity despite being considered acceptable to an extent is where transmission from men to women first began when AIDS was introduced to Brazil in the 80s. Men that practiced with other men brought the virus home to their wives and partners, who are now a growing risk group in contraction for HIV and AIDS.
