El Paso native and current Austenite, Miguel A. Briones, reclaims Chicano masculinity in Macho No Machismo: Helpful and Nice, a children’s book that models what it means for young boys to be macho and kind. Isa Medina’s illustrations feel like a warm hug, and Briones’ tale of Macho Manuel is as gentle and tactful an intervention into machismo as I’ve ever seen.
Macho Manuel offers readers a guide to being macho like him, and he shared sweet tips for engaging with family, friends, and strangers while wearing adorable lucha libre masks and capes. Despite the chauvinism and violence that is often invoked by images of lucha libre wrestlers, Briones radically pairs this imagery with the sweet, helpful Manuel.
In this book, strength is defined by an ability to connect with others. Manuel says, “when Machos need help they ask for assistance, and when help is offered there is no resistance.” The notion of men refusing help to appear manly is a common one, and it is rare to see this socialization so clearly tackled in children’s literature. Toxic masculinity is so implicitly baked into the ways that children are socialized through literature and media they consume, such that pedagogical moves to disrupt are refreshing and welcome.
Manuel’s home is depicted as warm, bright, and full of love. Positive models of relationships among family members are taught here, as children are eager to help their parents and in return are given spaces to be emotionally vulnerable. Manuel hugs his dad, spotlighting a moment of physical affection between father and son. In this book, love is open and warm, and hugs between men are destigmatized.
Not every moment is a happy one, however.
On one of my favorite pages, Manuel is pictured in a blanket fort, surrounded by toys and his dog. He wears his mask and a frown, and the text reads: “When Macho struggles to be nice and is pinned down by emotion, they take a moment to reflect on their internal commotion.”
This message is simple, yet incredibly lucrative as a learning moment for young readers. Here, Briones acknowledges that it can be difficult to be nice, and that emotions can become heavy and difficult.
Many texts for children reduce moral lessons to unflinching directives to be nice, all the time, no matter what. For Manuel to be allowed the space to struggle with his feelings asks us to take children’s emotions seriously, and grant them the same flexibility that we grant ourselves as adults. Children need to hear that it’s okay to feel emotional turmoil, and that being kind can take emotional labor. Especially for young boys, who are often expected to bottle up emotion or take it out through violence or physical exertion, images like this one are pedagogically radical.
Manuel’s emotional intelligence extends outside his home, too. On the bus, he offers a seat to a gray-haired woman with a cane who everyone else either avoids eye contact with or gapes at. While giving up a seat on the bus is not a novel act of kindness, Briones’ acknowledgement that the world can “feel filled with danger” to children stands out.
In another subtle act of radicality, this moment is a brief introduction to children being socialized towards bias. Not only do the other children on the bus scorn the woman in patched, dirty clothes, but we can imagine that they’ve learned this behavior from the adults around them. Manuel alone stands up with a smile to offer the woman kindness, and his action asks readers to confront why others may be fearful of this stranger. Briones is not brushing off the potential dangers of the world, but staging an intervention into the reasons why certain people may face bias. This is a moment of reflection for children reading this book, and for their parents, too.
Finally, I draw attention to one last moment of Macho No Machismo. When Manuel brings his smiling parents breakfast in bed, he notes that being nice is rewarding internally, not externally.
While it certainly is a positive message about what motivates us to do nice things, I am more drawn to the image framed on the wall behind Manuel. Although it is not referenced in the text, the photo of Manuel’s parents in lucha libre costumes is a striking addition. In a pedagogical move that resonates with the theme of the book as a whole, the impact of parent on child is spotlighted.
Families reading this book together have an opportunity to think about how the values, interests, and attitudes modeled by parents have an incredible impact on their children. Breaking generational cycles of trauma and machismo is difficult work, but it starts with giving children positive role models and rich texts that start difficult conversations.
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