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."