woman [is] ubiquitous in every social class. There is near universal agreement on what a 'real woman' is like and how she should act". However, she argues that most indigenous communities do not share the marianismo-machismo dichotomy. Marianismo dictates the ideologies imposed on the day-to-day lives of Hispanic American women. Stevens believes that marianismo will not disappear anytime soon because Hispanic American women still cling to the role. She points out that men follow machismo because they are taught to by their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers. She also says that women encourage marianismo in each other because of the potential shame they could face for not fitting into its standards. Stevens believes many women find comfort in their personal and historical identities by partaking in this system. Critique of Stevens Evelyn Stevens' essay was very significant to this area of study. However, since its publication, her argument has been debated by other researchers and critics. Although her argument addresses marianismo in Hispanic America at large, many of the sources she uses mainly focus on Mexican culture, thus severely limiting her frame of reference. Also, she is criticized for implying that, despite other differences among various socio-economic classes, the ideal woman's characteristics are ultimately the same across social classes. Her critics claim Stevens ignores socio-economic factors, saying "her description of women as altruistic, selfless, passive, [and] morally pure" is inadequate. There have been some responses in the literature to the concept of marianismo that assert that its model of/for women's behavior is very class-based. In other words, the idea that men do all the hard work, while women remain idle, on a pedestal is something that rarely exists for the lowest classes. As Gil and Vazquez remind us, "most of her [Stevens's] data came from middle class Mexican women". Researcher Gloria González-López says heterosexual norms are created, maintained, and changed in different national locations. González-López goes so far as to sayMarianismo has done damage to our understanding of gender relations and inequalities among Latin American and U.S Latina women...Now discredited, marianismo was originally an attempt to examine women's gender identities and relationships within the context of inequality, by developing a model based on a religious icon (María), the quintessential expression of submissiveness and spiritual authority. This notion of Latin American women is grounded in a culturalist essentialism that does far more than spread misinformed ideas: it ultimately promotes gender inequality. Both