They consider their machismo a key factor in the molding and sustaining of their families and personal relationships. Dads instill ideals of courtesy and high moral standards in their children, disciplining them to be upright, honest and hardworking. Sons remain devoted to their mothers for a lifetime and husbands supportive of their wives. Of course, this portrays the positive side of machismo. Everyone knows that the world takes all kinds.
Some women are culpable in the deterioration of family relationships.
It does after all take two to tango. In Mexico, the woman s role as social dependent is still strong. Increasingly difficult economic times place opportunities for success steadily beyond the reach of the majority. Economic impotency and its attendant frustrations mixed with ascending poverty blast away the traditional extended family stronghold. Sometimes men feeling abused by circumstance and other men or women, shift their powerlessness onto those most dependent upon them, their women and children.