Marxism & Feminism Flashcards
Inheritance of Wealth
After indust rev wealth inc thro cap = develop of priv prop
Engel - this created monog nuc fam = nec to ensure men w/ wealth passed property onto biological children
Keeps wealth in hands of Bour & maintains their Soc power enabling them to continue leading & exploiting WC
Reproduction - Marxist Feminism
Cap exploits women - Engel - brought women’s sexuality under male control & turned her into a prod of children
Housewives = free care - w’s prod but women op & powerless
Created future w force to serve cap & enabled the wealth to stay w/ bour through inheritance
Socialisation - M
Althusser - family promos views to nat & legit Soc classes
show as fair & unchange - commun by parents thro soc into soc hier - leads to false class consciousness where ppl misperceive pos in soc = unable to recog inequal op & exploit - prevs Rev
Cushioning Effects
Zaretsky (1976) ideological func of fams = haven from exploit
can be selves & have private life - sim to warm bath theory
Argues warm bath is illusion haven only serves to maintain cap by soothing the exploitation of WC by bour to prevent soc rev
Unit of Consumption
Marxism
Zaretsky (1976) owners of prod exploit w’s labour for profit
Fam plays Maj role in gen profit by purch consumer goods
Adverts urge to keep up w/ the joneses - all latest consumer prods - target children = m susceptible to persuasion - those that don’t have the latest products = mocked / stigmatised- maintains cap by inc profs of bour who own consumer market
Criticisms of Marxism
assumes nuclear fam = dom - evi shows = wider diversity
fem - focuses on class inequals ignores gender - fam serves men
funcs - ignore bens of fam for mems - intimacy & sup
= struc theory assumes fams & mems = puppets - no free will
Liberal Feminism
want equal rights & end sex discrimination - believe change = pos
march of progress - still way to go
crit for failing to challenge underlying causes
Young & Willmot (1973)
early indust soc - nuc fams - men move to towns for work - women in dom roles seg GRs - causes oppress of women
mod - sym fam - 1973 nuc fams = less seg - both work & contrib chores = joint conjugal roles - men = m time at home - m united
Jennifer Sommerville (2000)
4 main areas of change: gov pol (women’s rights) duel earning Hs (female careers) changes in parenting & social attitudes
acknows some still feel sense of grievance - should use policy reform X rev change
Jennifer Sommerville (2000) Focuses
pols for working p’s - long hours & job culs = X compat w/ fam life
equal = dif to maintain if woman takes part time work for care
Evaluation of Liberal Feminists
intersec reject idea experience = homogen = false universiality
rad - fail to challenge underlying cause
overlooks women’s choice
Oakley - sym fam = flawed less male work consid equal = dual burden
Marxist Feminism
main cause of female oppres = fam X men
linked to WC
fam must = abolish in rev to replace cap w/ classless soc
3 Functions Women Perform
Marxist Feminist
- reproduction - Beechy - new labour force
- reserve army of cheap labour - Beechy - later in soc acknow women do take paid work then returen to childcare
- absorbers of anger - Ainsley - warm bath, cushioning effect - women = takers of s**t
Evaluation of Marxist Feminism
outdated - assumes nuc fam & = m equal rights - not reserve lab
women m oppress in some non cap c’s - china pay gap = 22%
provides insight into intersec fem - Bour also exper - sups idea fam helps cap
Radical Feminism
all socs beased on patri
men = enemy - housework - area of exploi = dom of men
fam & mar = key institutions to patri soc
Delphy & Leonard (1992) fam = patri institu - women do m work men get m ben
