Political Familism: Toward Sex Role Equality in Chicano Families

Abstract

The Chicano family has been described by social scientists against a backdrop of inflexible tradition. Social science has assumed that the process of acculturation changes traditional relationships in “ethnic” families. Recent investigations of the Chicano family indicate that it is moving in the direction of the ideal typical nuclear family with its emphasis on sex role equality. Political familism has jarred the Chicano family at one level because total family participation results in changes in the relative position of men and women. The male-dominated Chicano family is frequently discussed in terms of the machismo cult. The importance which the notion of machismo has acquired in social science literature and in El Movimiento necessitates the discussion. But within the varied expressions and manifestations of El Movimiento are changes in sex role relationships and family structure, as well as the seeds of new roles for the women and men of La Raza.

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