A Farewell to the Iberian Spanish Macho? An Analysis of Masculinity in Spain. Conversations with Experts

• Main Author: Juan Antonio Rodríguez-del-Pino
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra 2019-05-01
• Series: Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais
• Subjects: gender equality; gender violence; masculinity; Spain
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/rccs/8398

The traditional model of masculinity in Spain (the so-called Spanish Macho) is heir to a long tradition of understanding how masculinity is framed as an omnipotent model assuming that “a man has license to do whatever he wants”. This idealized behavioral pattern is slowly changing in Spain, as it accompanies the transformations in Spanish society. Certain public policies have provided momentum for a change in the way that the issue of gender in general and gender violence in particular are approached. A study carried out under the auspices of the University of Valencia between 2013 and 2015 interviewed experts and activists from an association of men seeking equality with women in an attempt to analyze the present situation and, above all, and to examine the future of masculinity in Spain as it relates to the gains made in favor of feminism. Using the opinions of several actors as a basis, certain questions emerge and the difficulties confronting this process are revealed: Is a rupture with traditional models possible? What is the present status of the coexistence between the most traditional and the most egalitarian approaches?