what women and girls can perceive themselves doing and becoming. Criticisms Marianismo presents a foundation for normal female behavior within Hispanic countries. Under Marianismo, women are expected to present behavior that shows compliance to male dominance, strong ties to morality (especially relating to the Virgin Mary), and willing to give up everything for the name of family. Like machismo, Marianismo sets up a list of rules that promotes how one needs to be when interacting with society, strongly encouraging a gap between the genders by reinforcing these beliefs in various ways throughout society. Hispanic people who are exposed to the constructs of Marianismo and Machismo are predisposed to behaviors normative within the Hispanic cultures of what constitutes being a man and a woman. Expectations of behavior begin to be evident before birth with these social constructs, liberating and constricting both genders to fit inside a bubble deemed appropriate by Hispanic cultural values. Men are viewed as providers and decision-makers for their family, while women are to provide emotional support to their families only. Hispanic women's experiences in life both hinder and improve due to Marianismo. They are more likely to exhibit higher levels for pessimistic views in life and developing depression. Yet, they are also less likely to attempt unsafe behavior, such as underage drinking and substance abuse. Restrictions placed on their expected behaviors instills women to remain quiet about their issues. If efforts build to push away from the social constructs behind Marianismo, criticisms appear from the outside community. Even without going against the norm, stereotypes of Hispanic women are conjured up, similar to men under Machismo. They are viewed as "exotic", implying they are secretly sexually passionate wanting to branch out from that ideology, or prefer to divulge in dangerous activities to make up for this “innocent” life they’ve been confined in, much like the archetype of the "sexy librarian". Furthermore, women can ostracize the woman fighting against the norm, claiming she is going against her culture and faith by her challenges towards Marianismo In Hispanic countries, a woman who presents herself in society without a man is frowned upon, as a man is the basis of family life and having a positive association within the community. Machismo promotes aggression, dominance and entitlement— characteristics that can be applied when focusing on interpersonal violence. When applying interpersonal violence, Hispanic women deal with the abuse from IPV from fear of