Women Are Subordinate To Men Rhetorical Analysis

An example of an ideology, under Shelby’s criteria, would be the thought that women are subordinate to men. This theory would be considered an ideology under Shelby's definition because the believers of this theory, who are usually men, are actually unaware of the real reason why they believe it. We can see that this is an ideology because, not only is it a widely held belief across various cultures, it is also an illusion and a theory that upholds existing oppression against women. Evidently, the belief that women are subordinate to men is an illusion because it is unclear to many why we have this belief. It could be passed down from our ancestors or it could be from ideas around the weak nature/biology of women. Take for example, a man who, wants to protect his wife in a crowded public space, unintentionally reinforces the belief that women are weaker and need the protection

We can see that this ideology reinforces relations of oppression in various areas of life, but take for example, in the workplace. Relations of oppression are prevalent in the workplace because it is a place where it is usually male dominant. Women tend to receive more rejections when negotiating a promotion and have less access to senior-level resources, such as feedback. Women are seen and believed to need to be taken care of and protected when outside of their homes. This is because women are perceived as incompetent outside of their domestic roles and that women will never compare to a man when it comes to making money. Women are not encouraged to challenge the status quo of male authority because men do not believe that women should have power that amounts to more than, or equal to men. The largest problem here is that men do not see their beliefs as condescending or as oppressive because they just simply feel that it is their duty to protect and care for