PHL323H1 Lecture 3: Paper 3
Christine Delphy: The Main Enemy
Patriarchal oppression is not the same as capitalistic oppression
The latter is not a consequence of the former
○
The kind of action required to resist capitalistic oppression might be
different from the kind of action required to resist patriarchal
oppression
○
•
All contemporary societies are based on the unpaid labour of women for
domestic services and child rearing
Capitalism uses the patriarchy to exploit free labour out of women
○
Economic servitude of women to men (Dworkin)
○
The husband simply maintains the woman's labour power by providing
for her basic needs
○
Their lack of surplus value keeps women excluded from the economic
sphere
○
•
Domestic labour and child-rearing are exclusively the domain of women
•
Women are not paid for other forms of work too
Agriculture, small businesses, craft workshops (unit of production in the
family)
○
French agricultural example shows women work on the farm without
pay (4 hours)
○
Exploitation in family that women cannot escape
○
Men demand to be paid for their work
○
Other exploited family members threaten to or do leave if not paid
○
But women are stuck in their role
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Oppressed as women
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1.
There's no difference between domestic services and productive services
Just because something is produced and consumed within the family
unit does not mean it does not have value
○
If a service was not produced in the home it would be bought
externally for a price
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Example of self-consumption on a farm illustrates the equivalence
between "productive" and "nonproductive" activities
○
2.
There is no work women do inside the home that is not paid outside the
home
Manufacture of bread, dresses, preserved food, etc.
○
Counted officially as gross national product
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Day cares, cleaning agencies, servants, etc. all get paid
○
Ready to eat food vs. raw food to be cooked
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Household uses labour, machines, raw materials etc.
○
Wives provide unpaid labour to make goods ready for consumption
○
3.
Women do unpaid domestic work even after entering the workforce
"women's production always has an exchange value (can be exchanged
by them) except within the framework of the family."
○
A woman's responsibility to housework and child rearing without pay
must not be interfered with by outside work
○
She continues doing domestic work for free and thus makes almost
nothing
○
4.
From this we can conclude:
Patriarchal oppression is not equal to capitalistic oppression
Few men are subject to the oppression of women in the household
○
Those that are, are usually able to get out of it
○
"The status of son or younger brother, which the basis of familiar
exploitation of men, is temporary; the status of woman lasts all her life"
○
Unpaid housework is exclusively done by women
○
Industrial mode of production vs. domestic mode
Family mode totally exploits women
§
When in both modes, domestic mode still exploits women
§
Difference in relation to means of production
§
Wage-earner sells his labour at a cost determined by the value of
services
§
They have the choice to take their skills elsewhere
§
Domestic labour is valued based on the goodwill of the man
§
Women do not have the same choice (at least not then)
§
○
This bargaining power b/w men and women prove the difference
between capitalist and patriarchal modes of oppression
○
Being married to a member of a higher class does not make a woman
part of that class, as they do not own the means of production for
themselves and are still exploited
○
"while the wage earner depends on the market (on a theoretically
unlimited number of employers), the married woman depends on one
individual. While the wage earner sells his labour power, the married
woman gives her: exclusive right and nonpayment are intimately
linked."
○
5.
Marriage is a form of slavery (1960)
Class = relation to means of production
○
Caste = destined by birth to be in a certain class
○
Women are a super-exploited caste
Domestic labour is unpaid
§
Compensation is un-proportional
§
Difficult for women to change employers
§
They are born into this situation, it is hard to leave
§
(sounds like slavery to me!)
§
○
90% of women over 25 were married so they were all doomed as a
caste
○
"it is about as accurate to say that the wives of bourgeois men are
themselves bourgeois as to say that the slave of a plantation owner is
himself a plantation owner"
Women receive more benefits and freedoms than a slave, I must
say
§
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6.
Women do not have a capitalistic class
They are just woman
○
•
"women will not be liberated except by the total destruction of the
patriarchal system of production and reproduction. Since this system is
central to all known societies, this liberation implies the total overthrow of
the bases of all known societies. This overthrow cannot take place without a
revolution."
•
(P1) Feminist nonviolence is the prevention of violence against women.
(P2) Patriarchy is a form of violence against women.
(P3) Patriarchy is part of the base of every known society. Therefore,
(C1) Disestablishing patriarchy is nonviolent.
Therefore,
(C2) Disestablishing part of the base of every known society – which requires a
revolution – is nonviolent.
Paper 3
Sunday, April 2, 2017
3:04 PM
Document Summary
Patriarchal oppression is not the same as capitalistic oppression. The latter is not a consequence of the former. The kind of action required to resist capitalistic oppression might be different from the kind of action required to resist patriarchal oppression. All contemporary societies are based on the unpaid labour of women for domestic services and child rearing. Capitalism uses the patriarchy to exploit free labour out of women. The husband simply maintains the woman"s labour power by providing for her basic needs. Their lack of surplus value keeps women excluded from the economic sphere. Domestic labour and child-rearing are exclusively the domain of women. Women are not paid for other forms of work too. Agriculture, small businesses, craft workshops (unit of production in the family) French agricultural example shows women work on the farm without pay (4 hours) Men demand to be paid for their work. Other exploited family members threaten to or do leave if not paid.
