Marxist feminist

• Marxist feminism


  • Inspired by work of traditional Marxists however would criticise Marxism for overlooking the exploitation of women in capitalism
  • Believe that due to capitalism, only way in which status can be gained is through wealth in paid employment but women (most) spend their time doing unpaid domestic labour that provides them with no status
• Women's role within the family is to reproduce labour power through childbearing and rearing children, while also performing domestic work such as cooking and cleaning.
• The family is seen as a key site where gender roles are reproduced, with men being dominant over women
• Marxist feminists argue that the family is an institution which serves to maintain patriarchy by socialising women into accepting their subordinate position.
• Capitalism requires a large pool of cheap labour to maintain profitability, so it benefits from keeping women at home where they are not paid for their work.
• Capitalism benefits from this situation because it allows employers to pay lower wages since they do not have to factor in the cost of providing healthcare, education, and other social services that women traditionally provided at home
• Families are not just about love and care but also serve economic functions - they produce new workers who will enter the capitalist system when they grow up
• Ansley: Women are the “takers of shit”
• women are an army of labour: WW1 and WW11
• socialisation causes girls to believe they are below men