Gender Roles and Family Systems in Hispanic Culture

The Hispanic family system is a very complex subject and very difficult to navigate openly. How do we know this? If you are Hispanic, you should know what I mean.

A Hispanic family is made up of or is based on the male dominant, while the female figures do tasks within the home. This is very common in the majority of Hispanic homes for many years and even to this day the man is the “man of the home”

Before we get into the family system in Hispanic culture, we have to understand where it comes from.

Family System

The family is the first space for socialization of all people and the environment where we learn how to behave, and ultimately, from which we extract how we conform as people. In this context, it reflects the way in which we perceive ourselves in a family environment and how we present it abroad. The family has a significant influence on this development and everything that forms us.

The family is made up of a father and mother figure (in most cases), known as mother and father. These figures are the first model that we know; therefore, we tend to acquire and present the same idioms, whether good or bad.

The system in the Hispanic household is the following:

• Grandparents and parents are at the top level.

You will understand the system if you grow up with your grandma (like me). Or if you watched the Coco Movie, you know that grandparents are everything for the Hispanic household. The parents, of course, are also at the top of the hierarchy. Of course, these are not set rules. The parents usually work (with the Dad being the primary breadwinner) and the kids are with their grandparents.  It’s like an unspoken rule.

• The kids, the sons and daughters. 

We see more in the Hispanic household that the daughters help more than the sons because they are females. We tend to see females more active in the family system.

Gender Roles

Father

The father, in the typical Hispanic household, is the main financial provider. He is the one who has to work all day. He is not involved in daily duties around the house (except for strength activities). He’s the “macho alfa” or the “bigger man.” He’s the main authority. 

Mother

The moms are most likely to be the carinosas, the ones who show more love than the dad. The moms are in charge of the food, duties around the house, kids, and all the time with them. The main stereotype is: that they don’t work or do something else because they have to take care of their kids. 

Kids

The kids’ role is most likely to follow their dad’s steps. Sometimes, they help their mom or not. Depending on the household, their main job is to go to school and often, take care of their siblings.

The traditional patriarchal family

The patriarchy in Hispanic families is something that many people still cannot see clearly. Patriarchy means the predominance of authority exercised by a man over a group of people or society. What does this mean? In a family where the patriarchy rules, it is where the man of the house is the one who dictates everything. 

The “macho” man is considered the person who must decide above all and he must be the authority before the family since he provides something economic, or even through physical abuse. Patriarchy is seen in many ways, some very subtle and some not. 

With this in mind, patriarchy can be seen in a family where the boys do nothing while the daughters have and are forced to help their mother. Or when the son is allowed to go out and be late while the daughter has an arrival time. The list of examples can go on and on. 

This leads to an impact on the following generations, where they take the family system to other environments. This can be a watershed where the individual can decide to change or not.

Where We Are Today

There is no specific answer to this. We adopted and decided to go ahead with what they gave us or not. We can go from generation to generation, carrying machismo and patriarchy behind us, or we can do something different. 

Whether you’re a man or a woman, just because you’ve been raised one way doesn’t mean you can’t break the cycle. We have made progress, yes. There are more women entrepreneurs and more stay-at-home dads, we have more men with egalitarian values, but still, it is not enough. 

Breaking the cycle goes beyond everything. It is breaking the imposed social genre and creating something new, something healthy, something ours.