As a socially valued ideal that emphasizes aggression and control and that venerates dominance, machismo has wide currency in the world of drugs and life on the streets and is distinguished from the machismo of the home. As a cultural model for male behavior, machismo provides important standards and motivations for the attainment of social goals. The cultural model of machismo is embedded in other meanings that revolve around using violence to gain social status and respect, achieving a degree of protection and self-defense, and promoting drug use and abuse. These aspects of Mexican masculinity are performed and emphasized to the detriment of other more positive cultural models of machismo and manhood. While cultural and psychological constructs are typically used to explain the hypermasculine aggressive aspects of Mexican males, the authors argue for the importance of considering structural factors, including economic marginality, in explaining these phenomena. 30 references