Hanger and Machismo

I have been to a fair share of Latin American countries for extended periods of time at this point, often in rural areas secluded from cities in less developed countries such as Ecuador and Nicaragua. This is to say that I have experienced my fair share of ‘machismo’ culture, and compared it in different places, and Peru’s was unique in a variety of ways. Over the span of two days in our first week in Cusco, I intentionally tried to observe and take note customs that in my mind reflect the machismo culture that many say exists.

Machismo is defined in the dictionary as “strong or aggressive masculine pride.” I have never experienced it in this way, to be clear, but Peru showed their machismo through a few ways. Firstly, women would almost always be served last during mealtime. This was a different custom than I had experienced elsewhere, and I asked Falconi about it one morning. He said that this is one of the reasons he would show up last to breakfast in the morning, because if he showed up early he said the servers at, say, Casa Elena would make a big show out of serving him his food first as a sign of respect. This was interesting to me because he said he made a conscious effort of it, and always tried to sit down or arrive last for meals if they weren’t at a restaurant. On that particular morning, I had been sitting at a table with Crosby, Maverick, Logan and Andrew and was curious as to why the server brought all of their food out before mine, though this meant that he had to traverse around the table in an awkward fashion. Things made a lot more sense when Falconi explained that to me, because people under your service wanted to make a customary show of respect to the men. This is not in any way a mal-intentioned act, rather it was ordinary for many of our meals to me served in this way. It is also a tiny example, one that I am sure I never would have noticed had I not been so hangry that particular morning. In contrast, in the States women are typically served first, as a sign of respect for them. Another example of machismo in a restaurant setting is when later that night I went out to dinner with some of the guys, and both Maverick and I ordered two different types of wine. This was an upscale place, and our waiter came over and poured my (full) glass haphazardly, and then got the other bottle and made Maverick taste it first to ensure it was up to his standards before pouring his glass. Again, these are very minor details, it is just interesting to observe how machismo reflects itself in varying countries, and the biggest way I noticed it in Peru was through eating and drinking.