Family : Marxist Feminists - Barrett

• Michelle Barrett

  Barrett (1980) argues that the woman is not conscious to her oppression. For example, why do women marry and live in a conventional nuclear family when this is exactly what oppresses them?

  According to Barrett, the answer lies in the 'ideology of familism', which presents the nuclear family and the woman's unpaid domestic labour as natural and inevitable. The family is portrayed as the only place where women can attain fulfilment, through motherhood, intimacy and sexual satisfaction. This ideology helps to keep women subordinated.
• Michelle Barrett

  Barrett argues that as well as the overthrow of capitalism, the overthrow of the ideology of familim must also happen. This would free the sexes from restrictive stereotypes and ensure domestic labour was shared equally.