_Issues in Feminism_, author Sheila Ruth.
The book is called _Issues in Feminism_, author Sheila Ruth.
After discussing the "Mars Commandments" for masculinity, Ruth goes on to
discuss the added traits of machismo:
The machismo element of masculinity is that of the bad boy,
of mischief that can and sometimes does slip into downright evil.
This configuration is not an aberration, peripheral to
masculinity. It is essential to it. Encouraged by parents
("Trouble, trouble, trouble, isn't he _all_ boy?"), tolerated in
school, and enhanced by sports, military traditions, and many
rites of passage -- for example, the bachelor dinner, Friday night
with the boys, or "sowing wild oats" -- machismo is real and
present. Although its expression may vary with class, race, or
location, it forms an important part of the male world view, for
its alternative is the sissy or goody-two-shoes, an object of
ridicule and rejection.
Though the expression and the intensity of mischief may vary,
the components are relatively stable.
[Paragraphs on _General Naughtiness_ and _Violence_ ommitted for
brevity.]
_Sexual Potency_: Machismo is a cultural image, a human type,
but it is a sexual identity as well. Potency -- defined as the
ability to have sex often and as rapidly as possible, to
impregnate with ease -- is tightly integrated into the other
components described. Violence and sexuality are _not_ juxtaposed
in this context. Instead, they are different facets of the same
thing. El Macho uses his sex like a weapon. In street language
you "deck 'em and dick 'em", you "tear off a piece", or "bang 'em"
or "hit 'er" -- all intensely violent metaphors. In extreme, one
rapes or gang-bangs; ordinarily, one simply exploits or insults.
[Paragraph on _Contempt for Women_ omitted for brevity because
(believe it or not) it's less relevant than the above paragraph.]