Samuel Ramos and his theory of the pelado

The Mexican philosopher Samuel Ramos gives us an entry into the origins of machismo in his study of Mexican psychology entitled Profile of Man and Culture in Mexico (1934). In this work he describes the his view of the basic characteristics of the psychology of the Mexican people by describing a type, the pelado. The following selections define a pelado and relate him to behavioral patterns in the character of the Mexican people . The following selection is from pages 58-63 of the translation by Peter G. Earle, University of Texas Press, 1975.

The Mexican psyche is the result of reactions that strive to conceal an inferiority complex. Such concealment is achieved by falsifying the image of the external world, exalting that way the Mexican's consciousness of his own worth. In his own country he imitates modes of European civilization in order to feel that he is equal to the European, and in order to establish in his cities a privileged group which considers itself superior to all those Mexicans who live beyond the borders of civilization. But this fictional process does not end with exterior things, nor is it enough to restore the psychological equilibrium that the inferiority complex has destroyed. The same process is also applicable to the individual and falsifies his own idea of himself. Psychoanalysis of the individual Mexican is the topic which we shall now undertake.

To understand the mechanism of the Mexican mind, we shall examine it in context that reveals how all its movements are exacerbated; thus the sense of that mind's development will be clearly perceptible. The best model for study is the Mexican pelado, for he constitutes the most elemental and clearly defined expression of national character. Our only interest here is his inner self and the elemental forces that determine his character. His name defines him accurately. He is the kind of person who continually lays bare his soul, so that its most intimate confines are visible. He brazenly flaunts certain elemental impulses which other men try to dissimulate. The pelado belongs to a most vile category of social fauna; he is a form of human rubbish from the great city. He is less than a proletarian in the economic hierarchy, and a primitive man in the intellectual one. Life from every quarter has been hostile to him and his reaction has been black resentment. He is an explosive being with whom relationship is dangerous, for the slightest friction causes him to blow up. His explosions are verbal and reiterate his theme of self-affirmation in crude and suggestive language. He has created a dialectic of his own, a diction which abounds in ordinary words, but he gives these words a new meaning. He is an animal whose ferocious pantomimes are designed to terrify others, making them b believe that he is stronger than they and more determined. Such reactions are illusory retaliations against his real position in life, which is a nullity. This disagreeable truth strives to force its way up to the surface of his conscience, but it is impeded by another force which from within the subconscious consistently reduces his sense of personal integrity. Any exterior circumstances that might aggravate his sense of inferiority will provoke a violent reprisal, the aim of which is to sub due his depression. The result is a constant irritability that incites him to fight with others on the most insignificant pretext. But his bellicose spirit does not derive from a sentiment of hostility toward all humanity. The pelado seeks out quarrels as a stimulus, to renew the vigor of his downtrodden ego. He needs a support for recovering faith in himself, but since his support is devoid of all real value, he has to replace it with a fictitious one. He is like a shipwreck victim who, after flailing about in a sea of nothingness, suddenly discovers his driftwood of salvation: virility. The pelado's terminology abounds in sexual allusions which reveal his phallic obsession; the sexual organ becomes symbolic of masculine force. In verbal combat he attributes to his adversary an imaginary femininity, reserving for himself the masculine role. By this stratagem he pretends to assert his superiority over his opponent.

We should like to illustrate these theories, but unfortunately, the pelado''s language is so crudely realistic that it is not possible to transcribe many of his most characteristic phrases. Nevertheless, certain typical expressions cannot be ignored. The reader should not take offense at our citation of words which in Mexico are used only in intimate conversations. Beyond their vulgarity and grossness the psychologist can discern a different and more noble sense. And it would be unpardonable to disregard such valuable material for study under the pretext of acceding to a dubiously conceived notion of decency in language. It would be comparable to a chemist's refusing to analyze all substances that smell bad.

The most destitute of Mexican pelados consoles himself by shouting at everyone that "he's got balls" (muchos huevos) with reference to the testicles. It is important to note that he attributes to the reproductive organ not only one kind of potency, the sexual, but every kind of human power. In the pelado a man who triumphs in any activity, anywhere, owes his success to his "balls." Another of his favorite expressions, "I am your father" (Yos soy tu padre), intends to assert his predominance unequivocally. In our patriarchal societies the father is for all men the symbol of power. It must also be remarked that the pelado''s phallic obsession is not comparable to phallic cults and their underlying notions of fecundity and eternal life. The phallus suggests to the pelado the idea of power. From this he has derived a very impoverished concept of man. Since he is, in effect, a being without substance, he tries to fill his void with the only suggestive force accessible to him: that of the male animal. He turns this popular concept of man into a dismal view of all Mexicans. When a Mexican compares his own nullity to the character of a civilized foreigner, he consoles himself in the following way: "A European has science, art, technical knowledge, and so forth; we have none of that here, but . . . we are very manly." Manly in the zoological sense of the term, that is, in the sense of the male enjoying complete animal potency. The Mexican is fond of boasting and believes that he demonstrates this potency in courage) If only he knew that such courage is a smoke screen! Appearances must not, therefore, deceive us. The pelado is neither a strong nor a brave man. The appearance he shows us is false. It is a camouflage by which he misleads himself and all those who come into contact with him. One can infer that the more show he makes of courage and force, the greater is the weakness that he is trying to hide. However much the pelado deceives himself by this illusion, he can never be certain of his power, so long as his weakness is present and threatens to betray him. He lies in distrust of himself and in continuous fear of being discovered. So it is that his perception becomes abnormal; he imagines that the next man he encounters will be his enemy; he mistrusts all who approach him.

After this brief description of the Mexican pelado, an outline of his mental structure and operation seems advisable for an eventual understanding of the Mexican's psychology in general.

I. The pelado has two personalities: one real, the other, fictitious.

II. His real personality is obscured by his fictitious one, or the one that first appears to himself and others.

III. His fictitious personality is diametrically opposed to his real one, for the object of the first is to raise the psychic
level depressed by the second.

IV. Since this individual lacks real human value and is powerless to acquire it, he utilizes a ruse to conceal his sentiments of inferiority.

V. The fictitious personality's lack of real foundation creates a sense of self-distrust.

VI. Self-distrust produces abnormality in the psychic functioning, especially in the perception of reality.

VII. This abnormal perception amounts to an unjustified distrust of others, in addition to a hypersensitivity in his contact with other men.

VIII. Since our subject lives in falsehood, his position is always unstable and obliges him to keep constant vigil over his ego, while consequently neglecting reality.

His lack of attention to reality and his correlative preoccupation with himself lend support to our class)fication of the pelado among the "introverts."
One might think that the pelado''s inferiority complex is not due to the fact that he is Mexican, but rather to his proletarian status. Indeed, this status could be the logical result of the complex, but there are convincing reasons for assuming that it is not the only decisive factor in the pelado's personality. We also notice that he associates his concept of virility with that of nationality, creating thereby the illusion that personal valor is the Mexican's particular characteristic. To see how nationality in itself creates a feeling of inferiority, one need only note the susceptibility of the pelado' s patriotic sentiments and his pompous expression of words and exclamations. The frequency of individual and collective patriotic manifestations is symbolic of the Mexican's insecurity about the value of his nationality. Decisive proof of this affirmation is found in the fact that the same sentiment exists in cultivated and intelligent Mexicans of the bourgeoisie.

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