Machismo is part of our culture From the 1940s to the 1970s, the Chicano Movement was founded amidst racism in the United States to achieve equality and empower the Mexican-American community. At the height of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, the Chicano Feminist Movement was also born, influenced by white feminism. Fighting against male dominance and the patriarchal system, the Chicano Movement highlighted and criticized the widespread sexism that could be found in the Chicano Movement. As can be seen in Marcela Christine Lucero-Trujillo's poem “Machismo is Part of Our Culture,” the speaker represents a Chicana worker who questions the double standard regarding what is expected of Mexican men and women- American (Lucero-Trujillo, Machismo is Part of Our Culture). Reformist in nature, the Chicana Movement aimed to redefine the identity of Mexican-American women as an integral part of Mexican-American political mobilization. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Throughout the poem, the speaker describes the patriarchal ideologies embodied by the Mexican-American community and, through her tone, mocks the difference in status and social expectation of the two sexes. Clearly identifying the Chicano as the "boss" and the speaker herself as "your Chicana employee" (Lucero-Trujillo), the poem described the difference in class and social position of male and female Mexican Americans. However, the speaker's dismissive tone towards the “Chicano bossman” implies his contempt for his person and character, which turns out to be intimately associated with “WASP”, and yet asks the speaker to “put up with machismo” (Lucero-Trujillo ), the term “machismo” which can be interpreted as Mexican pride. The sarcasm inferred from the use of “machi-machi-machismo” further illustrates the speaker's contempt for the social expectations of Chicanas and non-Chicanos. The double standard that allowed Chicanos to be freely with whomever they wanted to be with, even with the white Americans who exploited them, and which demanded the opposite of Chicanos, is severely criticized by the poem. Unlike the Chicano Movement which focused on reclaiming the identity of Mexican Americans as non-white and demanding equal rights as white Americans in the 1940s and 1950s, the Chicana Movement in the 1970s focused on fighting for the rights of Mexican-American women and on de facto equality as Mexican-American men. By claiming the identity of non-white Americans, Mexican Americans revealed their determination not to assimilate their culture to that of America. However, because the Chicano movement was influenced by white feminism, Chicanas faced suspicion and hostility from Chicanos, who believed that the feminist movement diminished the Chicano civil rights movement's effort. As a result, Chicana feminists or Chicanas who held power were labeled “lesbian,” “unfeminine,” “promiscuous” (Gutierrez 47), and censured for their “betrayal” of fellow Mexican Americans and “ machismo". These unfounded portrayals of Chicanas contributed to the passivity of the general population, but nevertheless awakened the spirit of those who believed in the equality of both men and women, and thus mobilized their efforts to elevate the social status of Mexican-American women. The goal of the Chicana Movement was to redefine the identity of Chicanas as an integral part of the Mexican-American community. While in the early stages of the Chicano Movement, the.