Coca Soriano, Mircy M. " Does machismo cause femicide?: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Latin American and U.S. Femicide Trends". Interdepartmental Major in the Departments of Political Science and Latin American & Caribbean Studies ADVISOR: Elena McGrath and Lori Marso This thesis examines the relationship between machismo and femicide through a comparative analysis of the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the United States. While femicide is widely studied in Latin America, few studies compare it with countries outside the region. This research addresses this gap by analyzing how cultural beliefs about masculinity and gender roles influence violence against women in different historical, social, and institutional contexts.
The study poses two central questions: to what extent does machismo contribute to femicide, and how do its forms and influence differ between Latin American and U.S. societies? Drawing on feminist theories such as Diana E. H. Russell (1970s) and Marcela Lagarde (1987), legal frameworks, and documented cases of femicide, the thesis examines how patriarchal norms interact with structural factors such as socioeconomic inequality, institutional strength, the legal recognition of femicide, and the availability of firearms.
The findings suggest that machismo plays a significant role in shaping attitudes that normalize male dominance and violence against women. However, machismo alone does not fully explain the patterns of femicide, and this thesis will explore this further. Gender-based killings arise from the interplay between cultural norms and broader structural conditions, such as institutional capacity, legal systems, and social inequalities. While Latin American countries are increasingly recognizing femicide as a distinct legal category, the same cannot be said for the United States, where similar crimes are often classified under broader definitions of domestic violence or homicide, which can obscure their gendered nature.
By comparing these three cases, this study contributes to a broader understanding of how gender ideologies and institutional contexts jointly shape patterns of violence against women in different societies, and the importance of how femicide should be recognized independently of gender-based violence in any region.