Marianismo is a term that describes an ideal of true femininity with characteristics derived from a central figure of Catholicism, Mary of Guadalupe. It defines standards for the female gender role in Hispanic American folk cultures, and is strictly intertwined with machismo and Roman Catholicism. Marianismo revolves around the veneration for feminine virtues like interpersonal harmony, inner strength, self-sacrifice, family, chastity, and morality among Hispanic women. More ideas held within marianismo include those of feminine passivity, sexual purity, and self-silencing. Evelyn Stevens, political scientist, states: [I]t teaches that women are semi-divine, morally superior to and spiritually stronger than men." Origin of term "Marianismo" originally referred to a devotion towards the Blessed Virgin Mary (Spanish: María). The term was first used by political scientist Evelyn Stevens in her 1973 essay "Marianismo: The Other Face of Machismo". It was coined as a female counterpart to machismo, the hispanic ideal of masculinity. Marianismo is the supposed ideal of true femininity that women are supposed to live up to—i.e. being modest, virtuous, and sexually abstinent until marriage—and then being faithful and subordinate to their husbands. Although Stevens was the first to use the term, the concept probably originated at the same as machismo, during the time of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In their book The Maria Paradox: How Latinas Can Merge Old World Traditions with New World Self-esteem (1996, G. P. Putnam), Rosa Maria Gil and Carmen Inoa Vazquez credit Stevens with introducing the concept of marianismo, citing the "ground-breaking essay written by Evelyn P. Stevens in 1973". They also discuss use of the term by academicians such as Sally E. Romero, Julia M. Ramos-McKay, Lillian Comas-Díaz, and Luis Romero. In their book, Gil and Vazquez use it as applicable across a variety of Hispanic cultures. Evelyn Stevens' Contributions In her essay, Stevens defines Marianismo as "the cult of female spiritual superiority, which teaches that women are semidivine, morally superior to and spiritually stronger than men." She explains the characteristics of machismo: "exaggerated aggressiveness in intransigence in male-to-male interpersonal relationships and arrogance and sexual aggression in male-to-female relationships." Stevens argues that marianismo and machismo are complements, and that one cannot exist without the other. Origin of Marianismo Stevens believes that marianismo is rooted in the awe and worship of female bodies, particularly in the context of pregnancy, exemplified by early cultures. She discusses the various versions of holy Mother figures found through