ABSTRACT
The term 'machismo' is often considered synonymous with sexism; that is, feelings of superiority by individuals of one sex in behaviors toward the other. Machismo and patriarchy are both forms of sexist behavior, for both treat the woman as a sexual object and thus as a person subject to domination. The situation of machismo in Latin American society of the late twentieth century is linked to population growth and the difficulties in reducing it. In the Caribbean, under the slave regime, the most basic conditions required by a legally married couple to maintain and share their home were inaccessible to slaves. Christian marriage was incompatible with the slave system, since either member of the couple could be transferred or sold at any time. Individuals respond, that is, through well-known psychological mechanisms that tend to perpetuate the attitudes of their fathers, and then they teach their sons how to behave when they become adults.
