My dad's a beautiful man but like a lot of Mexican men or men in general a lot of men have a problem with the balance of masculinity and femininity - intuition and compassion and tenderness - and get overboard with the macho thing. It took him a while to become more I would say conscious evolved.
Poverty is uncomfortable but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim.