In a lively, anecdotal manner, the authors show how to balance old-world values with contemporary North America, whether the issue is juggling career and family demands, turning the traditional marriage into a partnership, awakening and accepting one's own sexuality, seeking help with emotional problems outside the family, or learning to stand up for one's feelings and rights. Filled with real-life success stories and wise, compassionate advice, The Maria Paradox details how any Latina can enjoy the best of both worlds and become her own person at last.
"Gil and Vazquez are psychotherapists based in New York City, with largely Latina clienteles. Case histories drawn from their private practices enliven a unique self-help guide for Hispanic women and the men who love them. Reinforcing traditional machismo, the authors declare, is marianismo, a centuries-old belief system that in effect tells Latinas: 'Don't forget a woman's subservient place; neve
Publishers Weekly
"Written by two Latina psychotherapists, The Maria Paradox sympathetically describes the social pressures and psychological barriers that curtail the personal freedom and professional advancement of many Hispanic women. The book explores the cultural basis of marianismo, which, as the opposite of machismo, defines the traditional roles assigned to Hispanic women in a patriarchal society. Case stud
Library Journal
"The Maria Paradox is a special book. It is special because it combines a self-help approach, social psychological concepts, a carefully crafted feminism, and feelings about intimacy and caring into an easy-to-read format. The main thrust of the book is that most Latinas persistently attempt to order their lives in terms of a traditional schema represented by the ideal of marianismo. However, this
