Essay On Mexican American Parents

Do Mexican American parents have different rules or expectations for their children than Anglo American parents do? Studies show this is true. Mexican American parents have big traditions, expectations, and rules, not only for their children, but also the whole Latino population. Therefore, Mexican American parents do expect their children to abide by stereotypical “rules” such as patriarchal authority, motherhood, and sport. First, machismo or patriarchal authority is a big and famous stereotypical “rule” in Mexican American families and all sons are expected to follow this way of thinking. Even though machismo and patriarchal authority are different words they over lap somewhat. The man has the last word in the house and the wife and children must do as he says. For example, men in the Latino culture tend to drink more alcohol than women because of the men’s desire to prove his masculinity. For this reason, at many Latino parties, the men get drunk while listening to stereotypical mariachi music, and fight with each other in order to show that they are the boss.
According to researches Latinos or Mexican American families are one of the most religious cultures and eight out of ten families are members of the Catholic faith. When one is born into a Catholic family you are baptized and presented to the church at an early age of life and are expected to remain a Catholic until you die. Mexican American children are told by their parents that they are born Catholic and will die Catholic If one does dare to switch religions and choose another faith, often times they are banished from their family or as their parents act as if they have died. Since family is very important in the Latino culture, many children remain Catholic to please their parents even though they never go to mass or practice this faith on a daily