Male Complicity in Perpetuating Machismo within Patriarchal Societies

Machismo develops in several ways in society, and one of the most discreet and powerful is complicity between men, so that various types of violence end up hidden or minimized. Recently, the case involving Neymar and his betrayal of his girlfriend raised the issue and divided social media. The reason, in addition to the betrayal, publicly admitted in a publication made by the player, was the number of comments supporting the athlete.

For André Villela de Souza Lima Santos, psychologist, master’s student at the Health Psychology Teaching and Research Laboratory of Ribeirão Preto at USP and co-coordinator of the Masculinities group, which studies gender and issues related to masculinities, this type of attitude not only reinforces the discourse sexist, but actively perpetuates it.

“Complicity between men not only intensifies sexist discourse, but is a way of maintaining machismo itself, not only as an utterance, but as a practice. Complicity is one of the main characteristics of machismo itself. Of course, we can’t talk about a group of men, about a form of machismo, but this complicity, especially seen in the case of Neymar, is a way of taking no responsibility for sexist practices. So we don’t talk about it, we don’t bring up any reflection on it. This is always swept under the rug, not talked about. It’s as if the problem doesn’t exist,” he explains.

And the women?

Another expert, Letícia Carolina Boffi, psychologist, master and doctoral student in Psychology in the same laboratory as Santos, as well as coordinator of  Videverso, an action and research group on sexual and gender diversity, believes that, because they were raised in the same patriarchal environment as these Men, women often also collaborate so that this type of behavior is reinforced and, sometimes, encouraged.

“What underpins the notion of patriarchy, machismo and toxic masculinity is the submission of women to men. So, if women came together and had the same level of protection that men have between them, we would be breaking this hegemonic masculinity. That’s what’s difficult to happen,” she points out.

Letícia states that it is small, everyday actions that validate complicity between men on delicate issues, where there should be no support. She mentions that “we are taught to see others as self-interested, as rivals, based on competition. If we see ourselves this way, we also feed the patriarchy. We are also people who end up, from time to time, reproducing patriarchy.”

Therefore, the psychologist believes that the best way to combat this undue partnership is also through complicity and union, but between women. “We can start thinking about how we look at other women, questioning these social views of submission from the patriarchy that we also have as an inheritance and that are also the source of our subjectivity.”

To reach the desired point, the specialist explains that it is important to question yourself. “When we look at this woman who is a victim of this violence, who is a victim of this exposure, how do I look at her? Do I judge her choices? Do I understand and have compassion? I think about how I could welcome this woman, instead of violating her, exposing her more? So, I think we start by thinking, mainly, about how I look at this woman.”