The Construction of Femininity Embraced in the Work of Caring for Children Caught Between Aspirations and Reality

Abstract

"It's my life so I'll do what I want, right?" These words, spoken by a young woman during the course of an interview provide a suitable starting point for the following examination. The belief that you can be anything you want to be if you want it bad enough and work hard enough is the massively prevalent ideological underpinning of many of the social relations and economic and political forms that touch our everyday lives. The effect of this assured ideological construct is that many disadvantaged groups (among them women) blame themselves for their own disadvantage. Conventional wisdom claims that the failure to realize one's aspirations is the result of inadequate will, initiative or ability. Such a claim fails to acknowledge that people are embedded in social, cultural and ideological forms, relations and practices that give meaning to who they are and who they might become.