ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the parable, or simple story with a message, to illustrate how masculinity and femininity have traditionally been defined in the social sciences and in law. In 1982 Carol Gilligan published In a Different Voice. Gilligan used the parable of Amy and Jake to illustrate gender-based differences in moral development. One of the most direct extensions of Gilligan's In a Different Voice is Robin West's discussion of "economic man" and "literary woman." The idea of the "reasonable man" in law is parallel to the construct of economic man in law and economics. Ironically, all too often the rhetoric of objectivity and scientific detachment has been used to veil pejorative and culturally myopic portrayals of Latino culture and Latino men. An essential ingredient of Latino culture is personal and collective pride, not so much in oneself and one's individual accomplishments but in the accomplishments of family and friends.
