SOCIALIST FEMINISM: ON THE FAMILY AND LABOUR
[The wife] differs from the ordinary courtesan only in that she
does not hire out her body, like a wage worker, on piecework, but
sells it into slavery once for all.
—Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)
1. Socialism/Marxism
-have been concerned with family, wages and mainly gender
-Differences are more about emphasize
-Socialism engages in the economic and philosophic of the law
a.three common misconceptions about socialism/Marxism
-1 is direct line of descent to Marxism (no direct connection) 2 advisable to not be caught up in the
Marxism or socialism text 3 is that Marxism and socialism are seeking a “heaven on earth”
b.capitalist society is characterized by exploitation
-Marx understand that the capitalist society is characterized by exploitation
^ Exploitation concerns with who owns property, who doesn’t or does work, how much are the earnings,
and the rules of governing
^ basically about one class, the ruling class, taking the economic surplus from the working class, the
working class will produce products, and most of the gaining from their production is the ruling classes
gain
^ The working class will get enough money to clothe themselves but most of the money will go to the
ruling class
^ Exploitation is hidden from the official version of law, is not neutral
c. law works in the interests of capitalism and the ruling
class
-they do not want working class to form unions, and higher pay
-The average working class person is only given enough money to survive and time off to work, and it
only works the interest of the ruling class/capitalism
2.Socialism and the “Woman Question”
a.history of thought in the so-called “west” has been
written “by men, for men, and about men” (Susan Moller
Okin)
-Susan in 1979, the history of thought in the west “by men, for men, and about men”
-Many socialist write as if women do not exist
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