The machismo that we don't see in Mexico but that has always been there

30 years ago, Argentine psychotherapist Luis Bonin coined the term micromachisms for the first time. The concept speaks of masculine behaviors that disparage women and violate them in a passive way. He defines them as "small tyrannies or low intensity violence carried out by men, through which they seek to dominate their partner." But these macho behaviors are not small, nor passive, nor are they reduced to the scope of the couple.

"In Mexico we have assumed machismo and it looks like it is something normal," says Verne Eréndira Derbez (Mexico City, 1991), illustrator and author along with Claudia de la Garza (1980) of the book They are not micro. Everyday mechanisms (Grijalbo, 2020). “It was a work of introspection of the two. To analyze the day to day and realize that what gave us so much anxiety and so much stress is about violence and that we should not normalize, ”he says in an interview.

It is a series of behaviors that can be seen naturally, although in reality they are aggressions. For example, think that a woman should always ask for salad and not a plate of meat in a restaurant, "because women are always on a diet." Or to think that the way a woman dresses justifies harassment. “Although we are dying of heat, we put on a sweater. Suddenly you can realize that you are doing it to avoid violence towards your person even if we are not responsible, we already have it naturalized, ”says Derbez, who believes that one of the most accepted forms of machismo is harassment in space public, especially verbal.

Illustration by Eréndira Derbez. Courtesy of Penguin Random House.

And it is not about micromachisms, as they have been coined for three decades. According to INEGI, 66% of women have suffered some form of aggression, ranging from a compliment in the street, to a violation. "It's also very common that there are only men at the media expert tables," Derbez says. "Or that university students who want to say something are interrupted or that single mothers are criticized and ridiculed," says the art historian.

The publication of this issue coincides with the fact that 2019 was the most violent year for women and shortly before the strike called for this March 9, one day after International Women's Day. "If some companies join the strike, it is good that they are reviewing working conditions or otherwise it will be useless," says the illustrator.

Illustration by Eréndira Derbez. Courtesy of Penguin Random House.

Although it was a book designed and aimed at adult women, Derbez believes that men can also find utility in reading these macho behaviors. “Many believe that if they have never hit a woman they are not macho,” who believes that these learned behaviors should be neglected. “Whoever reads it, may be reflected in the violence that perpetuates or exerts and that certainly hurts "He concludes.

This March 5 attends the presentation of the book "They are not everyday micro machisms", illustrated by @erederbez.

Do not miss it!

🕝 7:00 pm
📍Cine Lido, Bella Época Cultural Center. pic.twitter.com/9WNQcstaSA

Follow Verne Mexico on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and do not miss your daily ration of Internet wonders.