Spain struggles against macho clichés

Juan Antonio Herrero Brasas, a Spanish ethics and public policy professor at the University of California, inquires whether José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's new Spanish government, which has a female majority, influences international perceptions of Spain. "The Spanish have a reputation for being macho, to such a point that the Spanish word 'machismo' has been adopted into English and other foreign languages. What a terrible image of our culture! It has been established, all the same, that women are not more oppressed in Spain than in other western countries. ... For example, legislation in several countries has recently been modified to allow women to keep their names after marriage: in this way, they can enjoy a right that Spanish women have always had. [Zapatero's decision] is in no way a radical or baffling step in our society."

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