Ideology, according to Karl Marx, is the consciousness of an age, the dominant beliefs and values, which are to be explained in terms of the nature of the relations of the production and how ideas help stabilize those relations. The ideology of a society, in effect functions to help stabilize the relations of production to the degree that widespread acceptance of the ideology helps makes the domination of the ruling class appear legitimate. Every society has a ruling or dominant class, and the ruling class controls the ruling ideas, which gives the ruling class power.
In America, since the formation of the country, and even before that in other places and countries, men have been dominant over women. In this country it is evident through history, women had to fight for their rights. Women were not seen as equals as men, even though women were created to be companions for men, not to be dominated by men.
However, throughout history, women could not be silenced. It was a long and hard fight. Some women were killed fighting for equality. Eventually, it was won.... or so we thought so.
It is true, legally women now have the same rights as men and it is illegal to discriminate based upon sex. But are women really seen as equals?
No.
Women are still held to the stereotypes that they have been since the fight for equality began. To begin with, women are expected to be perfect. You can google "the perfect woman" and there are at least 10 pages on google about what the perfect woman is and what qualities she has. Women are supposed to look like supermodels all the time, which is of course unrealistic becuase the only people who look like supermodels all the time, are actually supermodels... and some people like to eat more than once a day. Women are supposed to be the caretakers of the home and children, and this is not considered work. And a good mom doesn't have to get a job outside of the home but she makes sure that her children are provided for.
Of course these things are unrealistic. Most of them I am pretty sure are so popular because of media. When television came on in the 50's, June Cleaver was all of the things a stereotypical wife and mother should be. In fact, the whole family was perfect. That was drilled into people's heads, but for most it wasn't a reality. How could these stereotypes still exist?
Fastforward to 2013 and women are dealing with the same stereotypes and more of them. The article the 10 Worst Stereotypes about Powerful women highlights some of the stereotypes women are dealing with today. For example, if a women shows emotion in the workplace she is emotionally unstable, but if she shows no emotion she is icy and unfeminine. Or, when women are single they are referred to as old-maids and viewed as not having a life outside of a job, while being a bachelor is the best years of a young mans life. Women are also stereotyped as being weak or being masculine while in the work place.
The truth is, there are more women than ever in the work place, but they are not being treated equally. Men are being chosen over women for jobs for a number of different reasons. Men might stay longer with a company because they will not be expected to tend to their families and men usually do not have as strong moral codes as women, which may be useful in making business decisions. Men also tend to get paid more than women.
There is still a divide in equality in the workplace between men and women. It may not be anyone's fault, it may be that men and women want to work together but they just do not know how. In the meantime, women are still fighting to be treated as equals in the workplace and not to be held to unrealistic expectations at home.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2011/10/24/worst-stereotypes-powerful-women-christine-lagarde-hillary-clinton/
http://hbr.org/2013/09/women-in-the-workplace-a-research-roundup/ar/1
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