Are Cuban men machistas? This is one of the questions that a young Cuban has heard the most since leaving the island, and tired of the generalizations, he decided to respond through a TikTok video in which he acknowledges that machismo is part of Cuban culture but also defends some traditional customs he considers important in a romantic relationship.
The young man, identified on social media as Dean (@deanpablohernandez13), shared a video on TikTok in which he candidly discusses romantic relationships, household responsibilities, and what it means to him to be a Cuban man.
"Cubans are very, very macho... and yes, that's one of the things I've heard the most since I left Cuba," the young man begins, although he quickly clarifies that not all Cubans can be lumped together.
Dean acknowledges that many behaviors considered sexist have their roots in the education and customs of the island. "We come from a retrograde society with beliefs that date back to prehistoric times, and we have these concepts very, very ingrained," he states.
However, there are certain attitudes he is not willing to change, especially when it comes to inviting a woman out and paying the bill.
"If you see it as sexist that I invite you to dinner and when the waitress brings the bill she doesn’t even have to wonder who will pay it, then I am very, very sexist," she asserts emphatically.
He goes even further by explaining that, for him, the person who invites is the one who pays, regardless of whether it's his partner, a friend, or anyone else.
"I don't invite anyone to eat if I don't have money because when I make the invitation, whether you're my friend, my girlfriend, or whoever, I'm the one who pays," she asserts.
But the young man also addresses one of the issues that often leads to the most discussions among couples: household chores.
Dean acknowledges that he enjoys coming home and finding the food ready, although that doesn't mean he expects his partner to take care of everything. As he explains, he can wash the dishes after eating and is also perfectly capable of cooking on his own.
To clarify her understanding of a relationship, she uses a comparison that summarizes her partnership philosophy: "Relationships are like a canoe; we both paddle, and the day one of us stops paddling, it starts to go around in circles and heads off to the park."
His reflection adds to the ongoing discussions among Cubans both on and off the island regarding machismo, emotional expectations, and the responsibilities of men and women.
In September, another Cuban spoke out in defense of the women of the island and criticized those men who try to control their partners or prevent them from working.
Months earlier, content creator Madame Lewis had also sparked reactions by launching a harsh critique of Cuban men whom she called "princes" for not contributing financially or taking on household responsibilities.
Beyond the opinions circulating on social media, the inequalities in the division of household tasks are also reflected in the statistics of Cuba. According to data from ONEI published in March 2025, 27.7% of Cuban women aged 15 and older were exclusively engaged in unpaid domestic work, compared to 0.8% of men.
Gender inequality also has much more severe manifestations. An official Cuban report on judicial processes conducted in 2025 recorded 49 women murdered due to gender-based reasons, of which 46.9% were victims of their former partners.
For his part, Dean insists that a relationship must be built on respect, independence, and shared effort, without either party shouldering all the responsibilities.
"Women are completely independent and so are men, and when we come together it's because we both want the same thing," concludes the young Cuban.
Filed under: