Marianismo
Evelyn Stevens' essay was very significant to this area of study. However, since its publication, her argument has been debated by other researchers and critics. Although her argument addresses marianismo in Latin America at large, many of the sources she uses mainly focus on Mexican culture, thus severely limiting her frame of reference. Also, she is criticized for implying that, despite other differences among various socioeconomic classes, the ideal woman's characteristics are ultimately the same across social classes. Her critics claim Stevens ignores socioeconomic factors, saying "her description of women as altruistic, selfless, passive, [and] morally pure" is inadequate. There have been some responses in the literature to the concept of marianismo that assert that its model of/for women's behavior is very class-based. In other words, the idea that men do all the hard work, while women remain idle, on a pedestal, is a life that rarely exists, particularly for the peasant, poor and working class women that make up the majority of Latin America women. As Gil and Vazquez remind us, "most of her [Stevens's] data came from middle class Mexican women".
Modernismo
Modernismo is a distinct literary movement that can be identified through its characteristics. The main characteristics of Modernismo are: Rubén Darío was the father of Modernismo as he trailblazed the path for future poets. Darío’s idea of modernistic poems were rejected by poets following World War I because many considered it outdated and too heavy in rhetoric. He developed the idea of modernism after following Spanish poets and being influenced by them heavily. Darío created a rhythm within his poetry to represent the idea of modernism. This changed the metric of Spanish literature. His use of the french method, "Alexandrine verses", changed and enhanced the literary movement. "Modernismo" literary works also tend to include a type of vocabulary that many can see as lyrical. Modernistic vocabulary wielded many semantic fields to impart a different meaning behind different words within his literary work. Examples of this vocabulary that convey different meanings within his literary work would be items such as flowers, technology, jewelry, diamonds, luxury items, etc. This vocabulary often stemmed from, if not from the language itself, Greek and Latin terms. Darío often mentions the 'swan' in his literary works to observe the idea of beauty and perfection within his writing. This is a major characteristic of "Modernismo" as it provides the idea of beauty and perfection within the idea of the poetry. In his poem "El Cisne" , he wrote: