Gender Ideology in the US - Report Example

Gender Ideology By: Institution: Instructor: Date of submission: Introduction Ideology entails beliefs set that has an effect on how we look at the world. They involve our closest held feelings and values and also entail a filter via which we perceive everybody and everything (Bénabou, 2008). One of these beliefs is the religion as they have the capacity to affect my personal views about the world. I also hold the view that men should always make women comfortable in all ways. An instance of gender ideology is a situation where a man is helping a woman out in preparing supper. Another gender ideology I firmly hold is the idea that men should take the responsibility of the family by working while women can work but mostly should be involved in doing the housework duties in addition to being mothers. Girls should spend more time with the mother while boys should spend time with the father to learn about the gender roles (Gauntlett, 2008). Changing Roles The US has recently witnessed a change in the gender ideology with the number of women participating fully in the elective posts including the presidential ones, for instance, Hilary Clinton. Men are currently supporting their wives as far as political issues are concerned. One such man is Frank Fiorina, the husband to Carly Fiorina who was a presidential candidate for the Republican. Also, Bill Clinton stood with her wife, Hilary Clinton till the end during the 2016 presidential elections (Beibart, 2016). Changing Roles Frank Fiorina went ahead to quit his career so that he can concentrate on offering support to her wife. This was not common before but it is happening in the US and many parts of the world. During the campaign, Frank Fiorina urged the voters to offer support for his wife to be nominated as the presidential candidate. The fact that Frank Fiorina left his career to provide support to her wife's career is a clear indication that gender ideology is substantially changing in the US. Another aspect of gender ideology is the fact that women are becoming top earners in the family, for instant Chris Christie's wife. Hilary Clinton also wanted to play the role once played by her husband, of becoming the first female president in the US. In the presidential race of 2016, gender roles are being displayed within the two parties (Gauntlett, 2008). The fact that two women were running for the top seat in the US election is changing the gender role where men, as well as women, are quitting their high profile jobs to offer support to their spouses. The family is changing especially the manner in which one provides support to the household with men's or women's policies. With an upsurge in the women's number running for numerous positions both at local and state level, the 2016 presidential race witnessed the highest number of women running in serious positions. The 2016 presidential race by Hilary Clinton saw her stressing more on the issues affecting the family including pay equality, healthcare, childcare, family leave, and education. According to her, these are part of the economic issues that have the capacity to drive growth as well as have an effect on many Americans. This territory is murky for Hilary Clinton who is also an advocator of the advancement of women and usually talks passionately about her granddaughter (Beibart, 2016). Evolvement of Roles With the evolvement of men's role as well as the shift of power of women at home and work, it is clear that the "traditional" male is experiencing a slow death. Women are progressively defining, dominating, as well as controlling men as shown in the 2016 presidential race. Today, many women are out-earning their spouse when the two are involved in some work. Voters in the US are increasingly coming into contact with a new candidate generation with different marriage type than the previous generation. The role as well as the prominence of women within the place of work is also increasing (Lucey, 2016). Recently, there has been some changes in the manner by which women converse about the family oriented policies as well as their personal lives. Support mainly from women, the majority of who are Democrats was essential to ensure the election as well as the reelection of Barack Obama. On the other hand, the majority of men mainly lean on the Republicans with approximately 52% of the men greatly supporting Mitt Romney in 2012 polls. Young men are consistently living in homes where women are controlling (Loyd, 2014). Single ladies' influence Regarding education, women are woman are outdoing men, and this is making them outdo men financially. Approximately 60 percent of college degrees are being acquired by women while the men are only taking 40%, meaning that women are taking over men when it comes to jobs thus making them to become economically stable compared to men. Economically less than 30 years single women are out-earning single men of the same category. It is clear that the role of a woman within the family is increasingly changing in the present-day society as the social position within the society has changed. The presence of two women presidential race of 2016 in the US is also a clear indication of women's rise in the power positions (Loyd, 2014). According to the Federal Statistics, by 2012, the percentage of working-age women who had been employed stood at 58% in comparison with 1963's 38%. The rate of working by the mother is higher compared to that of men, and this clearly shows that women are on rising. Today, approximately 70% of women who have children below the age of 18 years are working (Gauntlett, 2008). The wife of Christie, Mary Pat Christie initially worked as the CEO of the Wall Street and this position made her out-earn her husband at the course of their marriage. The wife of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Heidi Cruz, had to take a leave from work at Goldman Sachs to offer support to her husband during the campaign. Bernie Sanders also got a lot of insights from her wife, Jane Sanders. Frank Fiorina had to take an early retirement from his work to ensure that he is offering support to his wife during the campaigns. It is possible that spouse's role will receive a reboot with the presence of numerous groups conducting the campaigns (Loyd, 2014). The recently held presidential campaigns in the US were beyond the usual with various candidates sugarcoating their candidate's family life. With Fiorina giving information about her step-daughter who died due to alcohol and drug addictions, Jeb Bush talked about his daughter who was fighting substance abuse. Christie also talked about his marital history that was coupled by complications. All these stories reveal the changing gender ideologies. The tendency of the stereotype to die hard is also prevailing in the presidential campaign. There was also Donald Trump who threw numerous insults (sexist in nature) at individual women. During one of the debates, Donald indicated that the moderator of the debate was "having to blood emanating from her wherever" but during the rally, he would suggest that he was going to ensure that women were being cherished (Lucey, 2016). Unlike before, gender roles are currently on rising with many taking roles that were initially meant for women. There also occur confusion about gender ideology especially when young men, having failed to experience gender-based roles within their home setting getting their way into the workplace where they are confronted with different norms. It is, therefore, essential to bring about some changes about the narratives that revolve around young men. Apart from that, it is important to ensure the creation of a better sense of the role of a man in a relationship as well as assist him in comprehending. It is also essential to ensure that men are being portrayed in advertising as well as media. By 2012, stay-at-home dads stood at 2 million from the 1989's 1.1 million. The present men's generation is not subjected to the form of support which has been presented to women in the recent years (Loyd, 2014). In general, the rate of employment as well as wages for women has greatly increased. Apart from that, the family size, as well as fertility, has also greatly decreased, while the rate of divorce is also on the rise. Apart from that, many families are now headed by women. At the same time, many women are now taking part in women movements, and this has considerably led to the undermining of the traditional requirements and arrangements of the family. These changes have centered on gender ideology. Gender roles entail culturally defined behaviors for women and men that lead to the production of gendered relationships. On the other hand, gender ideology entails valued judgment on the gendered practices, deciding on the role of women as well as men within the society. The present system of governance in the US put more emphasis on opportunities' equality, with the assumption that people with an ideology of egalitarian have the capacity to embrace the work role for women as well as downplay the significance of the role of housewife. This ensures that the competition between men as well as women within the public sphere is equal (Lucey, 2016). Theory of Discourse and Power For Faucalut, people lack real identity in them but instead have discourse, a way in which they can talk about self. The best way to communicate an identity is through talking to people and this has been revealed in 2016 US election where two women were contesting for the presidential seat. People lack power in the first place but instead, power is an action or a technique in which an individual can take part in. it is exercised and its discourses are almost adversarial or conflictual. There exist a link between power and competition. In the present century, both women and men can contest for power on equal terms (Gauntlett, 2008). The occupation of women in various political positions in the US as well as other parts of the globe such as Germany, Brazil, and South Korea is a revelation of the changing gender ideology. A bipolar gender ideology dimension is in existence in numerous cultures and these vary from traditional to modern ideology. A traditional family/work ideology revolves around the division of labor within the family especially the homemaker/breadwinner model that provide the definition of the role of man as that of working away from home to support his family and that of a woman revolving around the provision of care within the family (Loyd, 2014). References Beibart, P. (2016). Fear of a female president. The Atlantic. Retrieved from: http://www.theatlantic.com/ Bénabou, R. (2008). Ideology. Bonn: IZA. Gauntlett, D. (2008). Media, gender, and identity. Retrieved from: http://www.theory.org.uk/index.htm Loyd, M. (2014). Gender Ideology in the U.S. and Japan: Cross-cultural measurement equivalence. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina. Lucey, C. (2016). Presidential race shows evolving gender roles in politics. PBS News Hour. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ U.S. News. (2016). Gender roles in politics are changing these days. Retrieved from: http://www.usnews.com/ World Socialist Website. (2016). Race, gender, and the US presidential campaign. Retrieved from: https://www.wsws.org/ Read More