[Machismo, made in Mexico? Social implications of the masculine hegemony in Mexico]

Hegemonic masculinity may be considered a public health problem in that it promotes aggressive behavior, violence towards men and women, and self-injury. "Being a man" within such a pattern implies stress, tension and anxiety to prove one's own masculinity. This article proposes that it is necessary to understand how dominant masculinity is individually and socially connected with the exercise of power over women and its implications in legislation and rights, to go beyond it. This text reviews these connections both through interviews with men and through examining how literature on masculinities presents the rarely discussed connections among power, law, legislation and dominant notions of masculinity. It explores the notion of power present both in literature and in men's perceptions, as a way to understand which perceptions of authority are culturally and socially legitimated by men. It is concluded that masculinities are in a process of transformation in Mexico, but that important vacuums persist which arrest the eradication of dominant masculinity. The analysis is based on a bibliographic revision, together with group and individual interviews with men. Results show how in the men's perceptions and reflections on the exercise of power, there persists a lack of criticism.