Don Juan

By Yesenia Herrera

Latino men in my community are stereotyped in the following ways:

• Men are level-headed leaders of the home.
• Machos are unkept, domineering, impulsive, aggressive, and often high status in the community.
• Mariposas are the equivalent of “fag.” They show “too much” interest in their looks and, perhaps, speak or walk without the signature Latino macho streak.
• Don Juan’s also take great care of their looks, but they are so busy bedding women that they avoid being seen as gay. In other words, Don Juan’s are mariposas with roses and women — which frees them from stigmatization.

I’ve been blessed (is a curse not a blessing too?) to cross paths with several men who fit at least one of those categories. Read the rest of this entry →