IDEOLOGY

AND
CULTURAL PRACTICE
 In most societies, news of pregnancy is often greeted with joy
and celebration. Aside from the prospect of increasing one’s kin
a woman’s pregnancy is also taken as proof of a man’s virility
and a reminder of woman’s reproductive role in society. During
her pregnancy, a woman is a recipient not only of numerous
advice on how to take care of herself so that she can give birth
to a healthy baby, but also of a variety of notions of determining
the sex of the child she is carrying. She is advised to take note
of whether the baby moves and kicks a lot (indicating a boy) o
whether she has become more beautiful during her pregnancy
(a girl) .”Common sense” is called upon to explain that baby
boys kick harder while baby girls make their mothers bloom. In
our daily lives, we take for granted such common sensical
explanations of reality and uncritically pass on these beliefs a
natural and therefore valid.
 Females are biologically equipped to give birth
and that boys and girls are biologically
different, one has to examine the whole
ideology of behavioral differences between
the sexes, particularly those which assign
roles and values to women and men, such as
women domestic, man-public and of male-
superior and female inferior that have evolved
and permeated societies through the years.
 Generally IDEOLOGY is refer to a system of ideas beliefs
that characterize a particular class, group or movement.
It is one’s world view or framework to analyze and
explain society.Through ideology people are able to
make sense of their surroundings.
 While Destutt de Tracy first used the term to refer to the
science of ideas, ideology has evolved to be a more
complex phenomenon and subject of intense debates.
 A noted feminist, Michele Barett, uses ideology to “ refer
to those processes which have to do with consciousness,
motive and emotionality.She considers ideology to be a
generic term for the processes by which meaning is
produced, challenged, reproduced and transformed.
DEBATES ON IDEOLOGY
 One of the most important contributors to the study of
ideology is Karl Marx. In German Ideology he explains
that “the production of ideas, conceptions, and
consciousness is at first directly interwoven with the
material activity and the material intercourse of men,
the language of real life .
 Foreman , in analyzing this Marxist formulation, argues
that “this is the economic determinist’s view which
assumes that each individual idea can be traced back
on a one to one basis to the economic reality that
caused it”.
 Gramsci’s also pointed out the means by which a class
can become a hegemonic. One is through transformism
and the other, which result in more successful hegemony,
is expansive hegemony.Expansive hegemony, on the other
hand, consists of a creation of an active, direct consensus
resulting from the genuine national popular will.
 The relative autonomy of the “ideological” to the
economic base has been used by feminists to explain the
concept of patriarchy.For Mitchell, “patriarchy and
patriarchal relation- the site of whose existence and
formation is located within the unconscious are relatively
autonomous of the capitalist social formation”.
 Nonetheless, another feminist, Ramazanoglu,
explains the importance of analyzing the links of
the economic and thought structure as she
points out, “we have to see the cultures are not
simply autonomous sets of ideas that people
happen to believe in.The dominant ideas of
what is normal, natural and desirable are closely
linked with the interests of those who exercise
power.
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE PRODUCTION OF A SEXIEST
IDEOLOGY
 Miguel Lopez de Loarca , a Spanish ethnographer had the following to say
about the women of the pintados Islands (of the Philippines): “ The women
are beautiful but unchaste. They do not hesitate to commit aldultery
because they do not receive punishment for it. They are well and modestly
dressed, in that they cover their private parts . The women are extremely
lewd, and they even encourage their own daughters to a life of unchastity.”
 Another example of cultural differences is the story of human creation.
Different Filipino tribes had their own legends to account for the creation of
woman and man. One of the more popular of these legends is the story of
how Malakas (Strong) and Maganda (Beautiful) came out together from a
bamboo tree. Unlike the biblical version of Adam and Eve which tells of
woman being created out of the rib of Adam,the Phillipine legend shows the
equality of man and woman as they came out at the same time.
Nonetheless, it prescribes characteristics men and women must have i,e.,
men are strong while women are beautiful.
 In this ideology are the three characteristics of an ideal women
namely,
1. One has to be virgin( remain chaste)
2. One has to bear children upon marriage
3.One has too withstand all the hardships in life and learn to
sacrifice for children and husband
The importance of marriage and bearing children was always
stressed on young girls who assumed wife and mother roles as but
natural and the only options for them. Unmarried women were
favorably looked upon: Ang dalagang tumatanda ay nag aamoy
kandila; nagmumukhang pindangga ang mga dalagang tumatanda.
Sa langit ay hindi tinatanggap ni San Pedro ang matandang dalaga
sapagka’t mga babaeng hindi napakinabangan ng lahi.
 MECHANISMS OF REPRODUCTION

 FAMILY
Is the primary socialization agent. The moment a baby is born into
society , the family is the first unit to which she/he is introduced and
consequently, the first unit from whom the child gets important
lessons in social behavior. The child is taught the rudiments of how to
fit in society , primarily, how to behave as a boy or as a girl. The
signal of such sex-stereotyping is when the doctor o the midwife
shouts “ it’s a girl” or “ it’s a boy” . Colors take on meanings: blue-boy,
pink-girl and if features are not sufficient to differentiate baby girl from
baby boys , mothers are quick to add on a ribbon to a baby girl. Aside
from a whole meaning system attached to colors and decorations, a
whole series of behavior is imposed on boys and girls. Girls behave or
cry while it is but natural for boys to be brave and to rough it up.
 Schools
Ages ago, the family virtually performed all tasks in society from economic
production to emotional support and education. As society become more
complex , these functions were slowly distributed to other institutions in the
social system. Schools were tasked with education and imparting to children
important knowledge that will be necessary for their future. The schools played
a complementary and reinforcing role in the dissemination of values that were
considered necessary and important in society.
How it exist in ideology disseminated in our schools? Many present-day
schools no longer limit boys education to carpentry; boys are also taught sewing
and cooking. In the same way , girls education is no longer confined to the
kitchen; they are also taught carpentry and carving . But do these changes in
training mean a change in orientation in gender-differenciated behavior? Books
used by school children show that women are still depicted as the housewives
and their daughters as their assistance while men are portrayed as bredwinners.
Thus the school, while introducing young boys and girls initially receive at
home. The school, as one of the socializing of stereotypes learned at home.
 Mass Media
Mass media experts have argued that, in contrast to the family and school,
broadcast and print media are more influential in shaping the minds of the
people. Since mass media has a broader reach( in that it can communicate and
send messages to people in remote areas) , it is considered to be more crucial .
Another consideration is the amount of time our young people are exposed to
media. Compared to the time the family or the school allots to inculcating values,
the medias presence in the waking hours of a child can add up to long hours.
A cursory review of magazines reveals pretty faces of women and strong and
able-bodied men. Programs in television and radio, in portraying men and women
in specific roles, reinforced stereotypes learned in schools and at homes. The
martyr and sacrificing wife and mother is a favorite storyline of radio soap operas.
The career women who tries to perform her dual roles as mother and wage worker
who later bows to the wishes of her husband and quits her job is a familiar story
line in radio and television dramas. Media has been a most effective socializing
agent because it goes about its function in a subtle and often subconscious way.
 Church
Church was responsible for propagating early sexist ideas .A look at
some of the passages and sections in the bible will give us an idea of
how Christians look at women. Local color has been added to biblical
passages as, for example , in the notion that menstruating women are
considered to be unclean and therefore not suitable to partake in holy
mass. The Catholic Church continues to exert a conservative influence
vis-a-vis women, especially in its rejection of divorce and its insistence
on “ natural family planning” methods. The church puts limits to a
woman’s right to chart and shape her own destiny. As far as he Church
hierarchy is concerned , the women’s place is the home where she
serves God. These roles are consistent with the assignations made by
the family, the school and mass media. However , compared to the
messages of women as sex symbols in mass media, the Church takes
on a puritanical stance.