User:Skylier Autumn/Marxist feminism

What is Marxist Feminism- a sub-group of feminist theory, which focuses on the capitalist society and how it contributes to the oppression of women. Marxists feminists believe that male dominated capitalism keeps women subjugated in a feudal-esque life style where men rule over them.

Key points of Marxist Feminism
Work- The division of labor has been at the forefront of the women’s movement for a long time. Many Marxist Feminists believe that this division of labor is one of main keys leading to the oppression of women1. The division of the public and private spheres, keeps them separated from the real world, and renders the work they do inside the home as worthless2. Many Marxist Feminists try to engage in finding support for working class mothers, and ending the wage differences between sexes. They also try to end the distinction that domestic labor, and the caring for of children in not work3. It is said that if a women chooses to stay at home with her children, and keep house she should be compensated for the work she does and not be expected to hold down a job outside of the home as well4.

Class- the issue of class comes to the surface with many feminist theories such as Bell Hooks. Marxists Feminists look at the lives of many poor, nonwhite, non- heterosexual5, working class women, and believed that the issues of those who are worse off should come before those of the middle- class and wealthy. Out of the topic of class comes the concept of materialism, which stems out of Marxism and the two are rather closely related. Like a Marxist believes capitalism has the power to fragment a person, so does materialism. Materialism severs a person from their identity leaving them without roots and completely dematerialized. It is also believed that within a capitalist society materialism has an influence on how women collaborated with each other and participate in society6.

Gender- Marxist Feminists are of the opinion that all oppression is based on Gender and sexual orientation. Men, to create distinction between genders and create sexual divisions that have no grounding in fact, use the differences between sexes7.

Capitalism- It is stated by some that capitalism stunted growth and created fragmentation in workers that would eventually loose control of their product and become controlled by it. Amongst the feminist movement, the oppression of men, and their domination over women creates the same form of fragmentation and prevents a woman from being a whole person. Marx defined capitalism as, earning power, the power to earn a profit and gain interest from it. The power of the capitalist was in the purchasing power of their capital9. When women where considered property of a man, it gave their husbands power over them. The power to do as they please, and not face any form of repercussion, just as a wealthy person often escapes facing justice for breaking the law, which in many cases worker under a capitalist rule were stripped of their means of production, subsistence, and had nothing to sell but their labor, which was worth little. Woman of the working class often experience this feeling, woman locked within the home face the same. Their work is not paid, and therefore, worth little in society. It was this form of class exploitation and the capitalist forcing workers to produce a higher quantity then necessary so that the Capitalist can gain a profit 10.

The Three Waves of Marxist Feminism
First Waves Marxist Feminism- During the Victorian era when women where judged by propriety and held by strict moral and sexual codes a group who referred to themselves as the “Cult of True Womanhood,” started discussing the issues of the public and private spheres. They debated on whether housework should be kept in the private sphere and made more scientific and efficient, or if they should socialize housework by bringing it into the public sphere. Between 1890 and 1900 they began to look at the positive values of motherhood and making them public. They did this by gaining the right to vote, cleaning up corrupt politics, creating housing settlements to educate immigrants, and starting the women’s peace movement11.

Second Wave Marxist Feminism- Second wave Marxists began a critique of unpaid housework and how this system of unpaid labor made women dependant on men and devalued them as people. It was also dais that capitalism forced women into a system of free production that placed them in a feudal society lifestyle where men held supreme power over them. Some even argued that men held power of a woman’s reproductive rights by restricting abortions. Many second wave Marxists believed that the problem with paying a women for housework lay in dividing work from pay. For example, when a mother plays with her baby, how much of that play is actually work and how much is for leisure. It was later decided that only the necessary amount for the psychological development of the child. Some believed the solution lay in combining the work of domestic servants, such as gardeners, nannies, chauffeurs etc, and creating a comparable figure to the work of a house wife 12. It was believed by some that those doing the work should decide if they should be compensated for it 13.

Third Wave Marxist Feminism- Focuses on the female wageworkers. Women like Shulamith Firestone redefined the theories of Marx and Engles’, using sex class in the place of economic class and reproduction instead of production 14. She believed that women needed to regain the control of reproduction in order to eliminate the sex class distinction. That by ending the discrimination created by male dominated reproduction women would gain more access and control of contraception, sterilization, and abortion15. Women would regain the rights of their own bodies. Firestone also stated that the family as it stands, based on sex class discrimination makes it possible for women to be excluded and confined to the domestic fear while men dominate the public sphere16.

Ann Ferguson Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Feminist Perspective on Class & Work. First published Friday October 1 2004. Pg. 2 Ibid pg.6 Ibid Ibid “Marxist Feminist Thought Today, Science and Society Vol. 69. No.7. (January 2005). Pg.5 Martha E, Gimenez “Marxist Feminism and Material Feminism,”( 1998). Pg. 5 Ann Ferguson Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Feminist Perspective on Class & Work. First published Friday October 1 2004. Pg. 2 Thomas Sowell, Marxism: Philosophy and economics. (New York: William Morrow and Company Inc. 1985). 26. Ibid. 74.  Ibid. Ann Ferguson Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Feminist Perspective on Class & Work. First published Friday October 1 2004. 4 Ibid 5. Ibid. Judy Groves and Cathia Jenainati, Introducing Feminism (Totem Books: USA) 115. Ibid. Ibid 116.