marxist feminism essays

Marxist Feminism Theory

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Marxist feminists view capitalism and patriarchy as inseparable systems. They believe capitalism relies on the unpaid domestic labor of women to function, and that this exploitation reinforces patriarchal power structures within society.

Key Takeaways

• Marxist feminists see the family as a tool of capitalism and that it is capitalism, not men, who oppress women.
• They see the family as oppressing women while support capitalism in three ways:
• Women reproduce the workforce and socialize them into a social hierarchy.
• Women absorb the anger of men who are frustrated by their alienation and exploitation (cushioning effect).
• Women are a reserve army of cheap labor that can be activated when they are needed and let go when no longer needed

What Is Marxist Feminism?

Marxist feminism is a branch of feminist theory which argues that the main cause of women’s oppression is capitalism.

This type of feminism is based on the understandings of Marxism, proposed by Karl Marx and collaborator Friedrich Engels in the 19th century. Marx demonstrated how capitalism was able to grow through the exploitation of labor.

Social classes were described to explain how one class controls the other as a means to produce goods. People who are of a high-class level of economic condition are the bourgeoise, whereas people who are of a low-class level are claimed as the proletariat since they become the labors of the bourgeoise (Marx & Engels, 1848).

Marxist feminists regard classism, rather than sexism, as the fundamental cause of women’s oppression. They explore how ideas of gender structure production in capitalism and argue that women are exploited by a capitalist society.

While some Marxist themes may not be as relevant today, Marxist feminists can still be used to explore how the political economy is gendered in late-stage capitalism and how the social reproduction of people and communities renews capitalism (Armstrong, 2020).

Whilst Marxist feminism can affect all individuals, this article will be focused on cisgender women in typically heterosexual relationships since this is who much of the research and theory centers on.

The Key Issues According to Marxist Feminism

The main view of Marxist feminists is that the traditional nuclear family only came about with capitalism. They believe that the traditional role of the housewife- who does not have paid employment and resides in the home completing domestic tasks- supports capitalism.

Marxist feminists claim that while the proletariat are oppressed through the capitalist system, women are double oppressed through capitalism as well as through the nuclear family.

Women’s oppression is thought to support capitalism in multiple ways, which are detailed below:

Women reproduce the labor force

In a capitalist society, women are expected to reproduce children. These children will then grow up to be the next generation of workers and mothers.

Women are also socializing the next generation of workers and ‘servicing’ the current workers (their husbands) with their unpaid domestic labor. Thus, women are supporting capitalism through their own means of reproduction, according to Marxist feminists.

Unpaid domestic labor of women

Marxist feminists claim that there is a division of labor between men and women: men are assigned economic production, whereas women have been assigned reproduction of the workforce.

In a capitalist society, more value is given to the production of material goods by men, than the reproduction of people by women.

Domestic work which is usually carried out by women include household chores, house management, and childcare. This labor is not respected in capitalist society since there is no exchange value. It is, therefore, devalued, and unpaid but expected to be done, nonetheless.

Marxist feminists explain that the unpaid labor of women is a way to exploit them. It is done for free, and it benefits both men and the capitalist system.

Capitalism would not exist without this unpaid labor because workers would not be able to work all day if they also had to take care of their children and the house (Cottais, 2020).

Women are a reserve of cheap labor

Since the primary role of women in a capitalist society is in unpaid domestic labor, they were usually restricted from working a paid job. However, women are used as a reserve, to be taken on temporarily when required by the bourgeois.

This was observable during the World Wars when most men were sent away to fight. When the men were away, many women were enrolled in the work that they would have otherwise not been allowed to do (Grayzel, 2013).

However, the women would have been paid less than the men and many would have had to return to their unpaid domestic duties once the men returned from war.

Women take on emotional labor

While not directly creating any produce or service, Marxist feminists claim that women must provide emotional labor under a capitalist society. This refers to the labor that is involved in keeping family members emotionally stable, so they can work efficiently.

The partners of the women may be understandably frustrated by the exploitation they experience by the bourgeois and women are often expected to absorb this frustration which may result in domestic violence.

How Was Marxist Feminism Developed?

Although Marxist theory was not initially focused on women’s issues, it was realized that under a capitalist system, women were exploited by not being paid for the reproductive and emotional labor they were involved in.

Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl Marx, is thought to be one of Marxist feminism’s pioneers in England in the 19th century among others such as Rosa Luxembourg.

During the suffrage movement in the early 20th century, class systems were considered when working-class women forged their own movement for the right to vote alongside white middle-class women.

It was not until the 1960s and 70s when Marxist feminism became particularly popular, resounding the most with women of the time. Marxist feminism is thought to have arisen in reaction to liberal feminism , whose fight failed to go beyond equal rights.

Marxist feminists argue that legal liberation is not enough to free women since it does nothing to abolish the patriarchy in social relations (Cottais, 2020). A few of the key women who contributed to the development of Marxist feminism as a theory are Chizuko Ueno, Anuradha Ghandy, Claudia Jones, and Angela Davis.

What Are The Goals Of Marxist Feminism?

Abolish capitalism.

The main goal of Marxist feminists is to abolish capitalism. Through this, they believe that patriarchy itself can be tackled. Overthrowing the existing economic system is thought to liberate women.

Since capitalism is at the root of inequality and patriarchy is a product of capitalism, removing this system should eliminate gender inequalities.

A classless society

Instead of capitalism, Marxist feminists advocate for a classless, communist society. Through a classless society, both the upper-class and working-class people will be treated equally.

Other solutions can be proposed such as reevaluating the reproductive work through the collectivism of domestic work and childcare.

The vision of Marx and Engels was to ensure that there was a collective ownership and the basic dignity of women in society, thus the domestic duties will be shared equally between partners.

More women in the public sphere

Since women’s exclusion from paid work makes them more oppressed, a way to combat this is to integrate women into paid work and the public sphere. This includes ensuring that women are paid equal wages to men and are offered the same opportunities if they have the necessary qualifications.

Marxist feminists do not generally seek to exclude men from feminist struggles, in fact, they often want to avoid separation between the sexes for fear of fueling a class division (Cottais, 2020).

Valuing domestic labor

Marxist feminists do not necessarily disagree that domestic labor should be ignored. Likewise, if a woman chooses to not work and instead take care of the household and children, then they should be free to do so. However, Marxist feminists wish for domestic labor to be as valued as reproductive labor.

For domestic labor to be fairly valued, Marxist feminists argue that women should be paid for domestic work. Being paid for this work puts an economic value on what is still largely considered women’s work.

Control over reproductive rights

If women have more reproductive rights and more of a choice as to whether to be a parent, they have more choice as to their role in society. Capitalist societies see women’s main job as to be a mother and nothing else.

So, if women realize they have a choice as to whether to go down this path, they can feel more liberated to do what they want to do.

Strengths And Criticisms Of Marxist Feminism

Marxist feminism has shone a light on how women are oppressed by a capitalist society. Attention has been drawn to the intersection of capitalism and patriarchy and the importance of taking both class and gender into consideration in feminist demands.

It considers how some previous feminist movements may have been more focused on the rights of middle-class or upper-class women, with working-class women being ignored or forgotten in history.

Marxist feminism can also highlight how working-class women are not only subservient to men, but often to wealthy women. More women and men recognize that there is often an imbalance in the share of household and childcare responsibilities.

This awareness means that couples can discuss and come to agreements as to how to split the duties. Many more men take on an active role in the household which can allow their partners to relax or to work on their career.

Likewise, people in relationships can start to be more aware of whether they are unwillingly doing more of the domestic duties. If someone’s partner is not willing to take on more of the unpaid labor and this is making them unhappy, then they can consider whether this is the person they want to spend their life with.

Ultimately, more people can find a partner who suits their lifestyle and do not have to settle for someone who is not helpful or supportive.

A main criticism of Marxist feminism is that women’s oppression is thought to have been prevalent in the family system before capitalism existed.

Therefore, it is doubtful whether men would suddenly stop exploiting women in a classless society. In fact, sexism and oppression of women can still be found in communist political parties, trade unions, and left-wing militant structures.

As such, viewing Marxism as a condition for women’s liberation ignores sexism as a whole and may only deal with a small percentage of the wider issue. Marxist feminism has focused heavily on the intersection of class and gender but initially did not always incorporate the intersection of race, sexuality, or disability alongside these issues.

A black woman in a mostly white capitalist society, for instance, would be oppressed because of being a woman, but also for being black. Angela Davis discusses the intersection of race on Marxist feminism in her book ‘Women, Race, & Class’ (1981).

Marxist feminism may also be criticized as not being relevant in today’s society. Since more women have the opportunity to work and have the choice as to whether to bear children, they are not necessarily restricted to being a traditional housewife, unless this is what they choose to do.

Thus, many aspects of Marxist feminism may now be outdated.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between marxist and socialist feminism.

Marxist and socialist feminism can often be confused and sometimes used interchangeably. While they may be similar, a way to distinguish between them is by their view on women’s oppression.

Marxist feminism considers capitalism to be the root cause of women’s exploitation, which is analyzed through the construct of social classes. However, socialist feminism takes both class and gender factors into account when it studies how patriarchy-capitalism articulate (Cottais, 2020).

How does intersectionality relate to Marxist feminism?

Intersectionality acknowledges that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression based on factors such as gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and disability, among others.

While intersectionality views all forms of oppression as equally important, Marxists highlight how class is the fundamental dividing line in capitalist society.

Marxist feminism is intersectional since it considers how women are double oppressed under capitalism. First by being a woman, and second by their social class.

Are women in paid work still affected by capitalism according to Marxist feminists?

Many may criticize Marxist feminism by stating that it is not relevant to modern day society since more women are able to work in paid jobs and do not have to be restricted to staying in the household, doing chores, and caring for their children.

However, for women, there are some barriers which can make it harder for them to have a career and children at the same time.

Women who work in paid jobs are often still required to complete their ‘second shift’ when they return home (housework, childcare, and home management), which uses up more of their time and energy (Arruzza, Bhattacharya, & Fraser, 2019).

While it may not be the case for every household, heterosexual women are still shown to complete more hours of ‘unpaid labor’ compared to their male partners (Seedat & Rondon, 2021).

Likewise, the jobs which are typically undertaken by women (e.g., care work and teaching) are often underpaid meaning that they may not sufficiently cover the costs of raising a child.

To make life easier, many women may resort to working part-time or quitting work completely, falling back into the role of a housewife while relying on their husband’s income.

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Marxist Feminism

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Introduction

Marxist feminism refers to a set of theoretical frameworks that have emerged out of the intersection of Marxism and feminism. Marxism and feminism examine forms of systematic inequalities that lead to the experiences of oppression for marginalized individuals (Ehrenreich, 1976 ). Marxism deals with a form of inequality that arises from the class dynamics of capitalism. It understands the class inequality as the primary axis of oppression in capitalist societies. Feminism deals with another form of inequality which is the inequality between the sexes. Feminism understands gender inequality as the primary axis of oppression in patriarchic societies. The goal of the Marxist feminist framework is to liberate women by transforming the conditions of their oppression and exploitation.

Marxist feminism is an emancipatory, critical framework that aims at understanding and explaining gender oppression in a systematic way (Holmstrom, 2002 ). Marxist feminism emerged as a...

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Sheivari, R. (2014). Marxist Feminism. In: Teo, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_682

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Marx, Women, and Capitalist Social Reproduction

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• Copyright Page
• Acknowledgements
• Notes on Essays
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Marxism and Feminism
• Chapter 2 Structuralist Marxism on the Oppression of Women
• Chapter 3 Marxism and Class, Gender and Race: Rethinking the Trilogy
• Chapter 4 Reflections on Intersectionality
• Chapter 5 What’s Material about Materialist Feminism? A Marxist-Feminist Critique
• Chapter 6 Population and Capitalism
• Chapter 7 Feminism, Pronatalism, and Motherhood
• Chapter 8 Reproduction and Procreation under Capitalism: a Marxist-Feminist Analysis
• Chapter 9 The Feminisation of Poverty: Myth or Reality?
• Chapter 10 The Dialectics of Waged and Unwaged Work: Waged Work, Domestic Labour and Household Survival in the United States
• Chapter 11 Loving Alienation: the Contradictions of Domestic Work
• Chapter 12 Self-Sourcing: How Corporations Get Us to Work without Pay!
• Chapter 13 From Social Reproduction to Capitalist Social Reproduction
• Chapter 14 Connecting Marx and Feminism in the Era of Globalisation: a Preliminary Investigation
• Chapter 15 Global Capitalism and Women: from Feminist Politics to Working-Class Women’s Politics
• Chapter 16 Capitalism and the Oppression of Women: Marx Revisited
• Bibliography

Biographical Note

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Socialist/Marxist Feminism

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• Socialist Feminist Revolution: Fruition in the 21st Century

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Socialist/Marxist Feminism by Wendy Lynne Lee LAST MODIFIED: 15 January 2020 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780190221911-0088

The long arc of Marxist scholarship certainly reaches many domains—economics, sociology, political ecology. However, few scholarly projects have likely benefited more, or offered more, to sustaining the relevance of Marx and Marxism than the feminist analysis, interpretation, and application of the Marxist critique of capitalism. From the earliest translations of Marxist thought into revolutionary action, socialist feminists have sought to introduce sex and gender as salient categories of capitalist oppression, arguing that being a woman bound to patriarchal institutions such as marriage is comparable to a working-class laborer bound to the wage. Friedrich Engels also plays a key role in the socialist feminist appropriation of Marxist ideas. By showing the extent to which marriage is about the maintenance and expansion of property, Engels opens the door to a wide range of analysis concerning the material conditions of women’s lives and labors. Marxist ideas become the focus of renewed interest over the course of the American civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s. It is thus unsurprising that a wealth of new feminist and antiracist theories begin to develop during this period, as well as analyses of structural inequality, including oppression with respect to the LGBTQ community. It is perhaps the most recent work among socialist feminists, in league with other activists and theorists, however, that is both truest to Marx’s original intent and that demonstrates the relevance of his ideas to the future fortunes of human societies, namely, the application of Marxist critique to environmental deterioration—especially anthropogenic climate change. Hence, the following is organized historically but also topically. It begins with the work of early socialist feminists, looking to include women within Marxist categories of class analysis but quickly moves to arguments that sex and gender—and then race/ethnicity and sexual identity—constitute their own salient categories of oppression. This explosion of theory and activism deserves to be treated topically so that the variety and breadth of socialist feminist ideas as well as the divisions and debates among its representatives becomes clear. The critique of capitalism has, of course, always been an essentially global enterprise. It is thus not surprising that the extension of socialist feminist analyses to the Global North and Global South would produce a wealth of insight and activism. For many of the same reasons, the same is true of the rise of socialist ecofeminism. The last section comes full circle. Devoted to arguments whose focus is the justification and fomenting of revolution, The Communist Manifesto finds its place next to contemporary socialist ecofeminist calls for workers from all regions of the planet to unite to overthrow once and for all the capitalist economic system responsible for jeopardizing the planet’s capacity to support life.

Although not explicitly defined as feminist, among the key early influences on Marxist/socialist feminism is Engels 1972 (originally published in 1884). Engels 1972 argues that as early human communities became more agrarian—as the institution of private property became more and more bound to inheritance—women’s capacity for both domestic and sexual reproductive labor became a crucial commodity. The origin of the institution of marriage is not, argues Engels, love or fidelity but rather the disposition of inheritable wealth through male bloodlines. Hence, private property is intimately bound to the rise of patriarchy and to what later feminist theorists will refer to as the structural inequality of both sexual and (given the economic dependence it generates) gendered forms of class. Engels sets the scope and tenor of early Marxist/socialist feminist work either with respect to developing his insights further, or as critique. Some key works that revolve around the broad scope of these themes beyond Engels 1972 include Montefiore 2017 (originally published in 1905), Kollontai 1977 , Weil 1986 , Nye 1994 , Shulman 1996 —a collected set of essays from Marxist/anarchist theorist Emma Goldman— Lee 2001 , Weiss and Kensinger 2007 , Scott 2008 , and Bender 2012 .

Bender, Frederic. The Communist Manifesto: They Only Call it Class War When We Fight Back . New York: W. W. Norton, 2012.

This edited volume offers a range of commentary and critique on the famous revolutionary pamphlet, Marx’s Communist Manifesto . Not all are explicitly feminist in orientation, but Wendy Lynne Lee’s radical feminist critique of Marx’s references to “the community of women,” Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s postmodernist reading, and Lucian Laurat’s sociological interpretation all shed light on important feminist questions concerning the intersection of class, gender, and historical moment.

Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State . New York: Penguin Classics, 1972.

Originally published in 1884. Engels makes out a key early argument for Marxist/socialist feminism, namely that the institution of marriage is essentially a socially sanctioned form of prostitution that exists to insure male bloodlines for the purposes of inheritance. Also asserts that women’s capacity for both unpaid domestic labor and the sexual reproduction of labor and progeny is fundamental to the rise of capitalism.

Kollontai, Alexandra. Alexandra Kollontai: Selected Writings . Toronto: Alix Holt, 1977.

A truly trailblazing early Marxist feminist, Kollantai’s work encompasses commentary on the early-20th-century Russian women’s movement, the rights of workers, sexual morality, and marriage. As an agent of the emergent Soviet state, Kollontai occupied one of the few positions of power for women: minister of social welfare.

Lee, Wendy Lynne. On Marx . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2001.

This introduction to Marx (intended for undergraduates) includes brief discussion of a number of central Marxist themes, historical materialism, the critique of capitalism, the alienation of workers, and the prospects for a Communist revolution. But it also includes a chapter devoted to the critique of oppression, focused on the oppression of women and a Marxist feminist analysis of Marx’s own complex and conflicted view of women.

Montefiore, Dora B. Socialism and Women . Northhampton, MA: The Anarcho-Communist Institute Digital Publication, 2017.

Originally published in 1905. Situated in a fundamentally socialist outlook, this wide-ranging set of essays and op-ed offers a rich set of topics that give the reader a clear sense of the conflicts women faced given the essentially patriarchal distribution of access to capital, wages, and opportunity in the early 20th century. Less theory than practical advice, Montefiore is a window into the real-time implications of Engels’s arguments concerning marriage, wealth, and inheritance.

Nye, Andrea. Philosophia: The Thought of Rosa Luxemburg, Simone Weil, and Hannah Arendt . New York: Routledge, 1994.

Nye argues that although much of feminist theorizing remains a response to male figures, an appreciation of the thinking and experience of female theorists who share a history and a theoretical orientation can open up new vistas. Such is the case, argues Nye, with Luxemburg, Weil, and Arendt who broadly Marxist orientation to questions of morality and justice offer new insight to the philosophical tradition.

Scott, Helen, ed. The Essential Rosa Luxemburg: Reform or Revolution . Chicago: Haymarket Press, 2008.

Rosa Luxemburg was a critical Marxist thinker in the early 20th century. Her observations about class in Reform or Revolution , and her insight concerning the use of labor strikes as a tool to address the oppression of workers in Mass Strike still resonate with socialist activists, and especially socialist feminists. Both works are collected in Scott’s volume along with an excellent introduction.

Shulman, Alix Kates. Red Emma Speaks: An Emma Goldman Reader . New York: Humanities Books, 1996.

This volume includes a wide range of key essays from a central early figure of Marxist/socialist feminism, Emma Goldman. The volume includes selections from Anarchism and Other Essays (1910) Goldman’s autobiography, Living My Life (1931), and other sources. A prolific writer and social critic, Goldman develops and critiques Engels’s arguments concerning marriage as prostitution, the institution of private property, and women in the labor force.

Weil, Simone. Simone Weil: An Anthology . New York: Penguin, 1986.

While we might rightly regard Weil as somewhat on the margins of socialist as well as feminist theory, her work as a moral and political thinker and activist, particularly in the context of social upheaval and Marxist ideas, makes her an important inclusion in this set of early feminist and socialist thinkers. Weil has been especially influential with respect to contemporary feminist work in the critique of war and the masculinist vocabulary of war.

Weiss, Penny, and Loretta Kensinger, eds. Feminist Interpretations of Emma Goldman . University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007.

In this excellent anthology devoted to Goldman’s work, we see a wide array of contemporary feminist thinkers offer analyses of Goldman’s feminist perspective, her Marxist commitments, and her relevance for contemporary issues confronting women, especially working-class women.

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A Feminist Marxist and Psychoanalytic Analysis of The Importance of Being Earnest

2023, Unveiling Layers of Wilde's Masterpiece: A Feminist, Marxist, and Psychoanalytic Analysis of "The Importance of Being Earnest”

Oscar Wilde's enduring comedic masterpiece, "The Importance of Being Earnest," initially perceived as a lighthearted farce, conceals profound layers of meaning and social commentary. This essay employs three prominent literary theories-Feminism, Marxism, and Psychoanalysis-to unravel the complexities within Wilde's work. From a Feminist perspective, the play critiques Victorian gender norms, revealing how women like Gwendolen and Cecily navigate societal constraints while exhibiting moments of agency. The Marxist lens exposes the superficiality of upper-class values, illustrating the characters' obsession with titles and lineage, and highlighting class-based exploitation. Psychoanalytic scrutiny unveils repressed desires and motivations, particularly seen in Algernon's adoption of the "Ernest" persona and the women's fixation on the name, reflecting a yearning for unconventional love. Despite societal limitations, Wilde's characters challenge norms, presenting opportunities for feminist analysis. The Marxist critique lays bare the materialistic nature of Victorian upperclass marriage, while the psychoanalytic lens delves into characters' hidden desires, providing a comprehensive understanding of societal dynamics. In conclusion, "The Importance of Being Earnest" transcends its era as a timeless masterpiece. This essay demonstrates how literature serves as a rich source for commentary on gender, class, and human psychology, inviting readers to reflect on the profound truths embedded in seemingly trivial comedies.

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Maroof Ahmed

This paper attempts to present how reality and fiction intersect in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest to challenge, if not subvert, social obligations and perception of identity in Victorian society. In so doing, the paper critically attempts to touch upon the concepts of duality and appearance as they possess the utmost importance for the Victorian sense of morality. The article also strives to show how Wilde undermines the basis of the truthful representation of gender identity instead of the Victorian perception of the term. In the play, as the paper argues, Wilde hints at the idea that there is a difference if we can call it a duality of identity between the appearance and what is hidden beneath. In the case of the fictional characters, they wear fake identities or imagine a view of identity to suit the public's expectations, challenging the perception of stable autonomous identity that the Victorian believed. However, the inner and outer worlds of the characters are pretty different from inside and outside, so that they constantly +vacillate in-between these identities. The paper concludes that, as Wilde hints, it is impossible to define a person fully when they display various identities simultaneously as in the modern sense.

This essay discusses how Wilde addresses the very nature of being. In repressive Victorian society, he chronicles the emergence of a self that is hidden and double and thus must exist at the margin, if not in the shadows. The result in Wilde’s private life is an identity in flux that reveals him as an identity migrant, who at one moment is the Victorian father and husband, and at another, the homosexual lover of Lord Alfred Douglas.

Modern Drama

Sarah Balkin

Oscar Wilde’s “The Portrait of Mr. W.H.” (1889) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) both centrally feature imaginary persons. In “The Portrait of Mr. W.H.,” Wilde’s narrator says that “all Art” is “to a certain degree a mode of acting, an attempt to realise one’s own personality.” The Importance of Being Earnest assigns actors’ bodies to the imaginary person of the title. My essay examines what it meant to realize a personality on the late-nineteenth-century stage in light of recent scholarship on character, stage properties, and materiality. I argue that – because theatre shows the constructedness of material and corporeal being, because farce renders male identity a matter of genre, and because Wilde unifies the characters’ desires under one name – The Importance of Being Earnest uniquely locates personality in a living human body.

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Marxist Feminism

Marxist Feminism

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on January 15, 2018 • ( 3 )

From a Marxist perspective, history is dominated by a struggle between social classes that will only end when a truly classless society has been achieved. Given the fact that throughout history women have been collectively denied important rights, it was almost inevitable that a Marxist feminism would emerge that saw women as constituting a seriously underprivileged class. Moreover, many Marxist concepts , especially as these were redefined by Louis Althusser , seemed greatly relevant. In particular Althusser ’s definition of ideology and his concept of interpellation, which explains how ideology addresses us in a certain role and draws us into a conspiracy that is ultimately aimed at ourselves, proved useful for feminist literary studies and film studies . For Althusser we only experience ourselves as complete individuals (‘concrete subjects’) through the internalization of ideology. Ideology is inescapable because it is what actually gives us what we experience as our individuality. Althusserian feminism examines how literary texts, films, commercials, and so on ‘hail and interpellate’ their readers or their audience and ‘position’ them with regard to gender. Into what position does a text, a film, a rock video, or a commercial try to manoeuvre us through specific strategies of narration, specific shots, images, and other forms of representation? How do they persuade a female audience to accept a liberal humanist ideology that so clearly disadvantages them? However, Althusserian feminism is by no means the whole story. We also find a British Marxist feminism that, in Ruth Robbins ’s words,

is interested in the material conditions of real people’s lives, how conditions such as poverty and undereducation produce different signifying systems than works produced and read in conditions of privilege and educational plenty. This kind of approach is likely to be most interested in the content of a literary text as symptomatic of the conditions of its production. (Robbins 2000: 13)

However, after its heyday in the early 1980s, Marxist feminism, too, was increasingly charged with being insensitive to difference, and came to be seen as the product of a white academic elite (with its standard middle-class background) and as unacceptably neglectful of the specific social problems – and the way these had been given literary expression – of women who did not belong to the white heterosexual middle class. Black Marxist feminists, for instance, were quick to point out that black female writers had to cope not only with biases based on gender, but also with an equally crippling racial bias and that an approach that failed to take race into account would never be able to do justice to the work of black female writers.

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Tags: Black Feminism , Feminism , Karl Marx , Literary Criticism , Literary Theory , Louis Althusser , Marxism , Marxist Feminism , Ruth Robbins

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hi! I’m completely in love with this essay. can you please tell me what citations do you use?

Mambrol, Nasrullah. “Marxist Feminism.” Literary Theory and Criticism Notes, 15 Jan. 2018, literariness.org/2018/01/15/marxist-feminism/.

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Essays on feminism and Marxist theory

• April 5, 2018

By CHRISTINE MARIE

“Social Reproduction Theory:   Remapping Class, Recentering Oppression.” Edited by Tithi Bhattacharya; forward by Lise Vogel (London: Pluto Press 2017).

Social reproduction feminism is not new. Marxist thinkers began to focus in earnest on the relationship between production and social reproduction in capitalist society nearly 40 years ago, in the context of what used to be referred to as the second wave of feminism. In 1979, the Fourth International approved the resolution, “Socialist Revolution and the Struggle for Women’s Liberation.”

That early mass movement also put on its agenda the theoretical work of Lise Vogel, “Marxism and the Oppression of Women,” first published in 1983. Vogel and other Marxist scholars put forth the concepts of what came to be called “social reproduction theory.”

Tithi Bhattacharya explains in the introduction to this new book that “social reproduction theorists perceive the relation between labor dispensed to produce commodities and labor dispensed to produce people as part of the systemic totality of capitalism. The framework thus seeks to make visible labor and work that are analytically hidden by classical economists and politically denied by policy makers.”

She goes on to point out that social reproduction theorists “by no means represent a unified political or theoretical tradition.” But while differences remain among the exponents of the theory, “SRT is primarily concerned with understanding how categories of oppression (such as gender, race, and ableism) are coproduced in simultaneity with the production of surplus value.”

It is no accident that the new volume of essays on social reproduction theory, edited by Bhattacharya, is appearing in the midst of the emergence of giant women’s mobilizations on the global stage.

These mobilizations include the 2016 Polish wom en’s strike to defend abortion access, the October 2016 Ni Una Menos demonstrations and strikes against femicide in Argentina, and the March 2018 strike of 5 million in Spain against discrimination in wages and violence based on gender. These 2016 women’s strikes led to the formation of a new international network of radical women.

The potential for sustained motion by working women struggling in the context of the most serious global anti-working-class offensive in around 100 years has created the context for a burst of new work on the roots of gender oppression and its relationship to one of capitalism’s most profound contradictions. The system needs to drive women into the pool of waged labor producing surplus value, while relying on gender and the kin-based family, rather than socialized institutions, to create, develop, and sustain that workforce.

As profit rates have dropped over the last three decades, and the bosses have both super-exploited women in the less developed countries and cut the social wage in developed countries to the bone, the crises for working women have grown exponentially. Mass action and strikes by women, on the job and off, are becoming central factors in the class struggle.

Key figures from the leadership of the U.S. formation attempting to provide an anti-capitalist framework for this new upsurge, the International Women’s Strike U.S., have essays in this volume. Cinzia Arruza explains how social reproduction theory can anchor a movement to challenge the liberal feminism that sees Hillary Clinton as a solution. Tithi Bhattacharya interrogates the parts of Marx’s “Capital” that imply but do not detail the relationship of social reproduction to production.

David McNally argues that we should use the wonderfully thick descriptions of racialized and gendered class experience provided by those working with intersectionality theory, but reject its failure to explain the workings of capitalism and the related strategy of defeating it.

Additional essays are included from such key figures as Nancy Fraser, Salar Mohandesi, Emma Teitelman, Susan Ferguson, Carmeen Temple Hopkins, Serap Saritas Oran, and Alan Sears. Every socialist needs to read it now.            

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Marxism and Feminism: Similarities and Differences

Introduction, similarities between marxism and feminism, differences between the marxist and feminist theories, reference list.

Social and political theories give specialized knowledge in the spheres of sociology and political sciences. Social theories comprise empirical evidence that is essential when studying and analyzing social phenomena. On the other hand, political theories encompass the principles and concepts that are incorporated when evaluating political institutions and activities. Both the historical political thought and the contemporary political philosophy play a vital role in issues of liberty, justice, and the responsibilities of the citizens in legitimizing the government. Furthermore, the social and political theories give varying views concerning the key actors and processes in the international realm that stem from particular opinions on conflict, power, and human nature. This essay compares and contrasts the Marxism and feminism theories.

Marxism or socialism comprises a body of ideas that were advanced by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The postulations under the Marxist theory provide the theoretical basis about the struggles of the working class to achieve socialism as a better form of human society (Mouffe 2014). The stratification of society into different classes emerges from the concept of materialism and dialectical view to social changes. Both Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels demonstrate the effect of capitalism that divides a nation into two fundamental classes of bosses and workers. The higher class is composed of the owners of capital who are the ruling class while the proletarian is the working class. In this view, the Marxism theory originates from an economic viewpoint (Vogel 2013). The class conflict arises from the contradictions between the ones who own the means of production and those involved in the manufacturing process. In most cases, those involved in the manufacturing process or simply the workers are exploited, as they get barely enough to lead comfortable lives.

The owners of the capital privately own the production machinery, but they employ inequality in the sharing of the surplus profits to the majority working class, thus resulting in class struggles (Barrett 2014). As the antagonism between the rich and the working class intensifies, a social revolution emerges as the proletariats fight for equality in the distribution of resources based on an individual’s contribution to the production process. Karl Marx anticipated that the socialism emanating from the advancement of output forces and technology would eventually pave a way for communism (Mouffe 2014). The communist stage of social development would ensure a society that bears establishment from joint ownerships and void of class stratifications.

The Marxist philosophy is based on dialectics and materialism. According to dialectics, the alterations and interactions play a fundamental role in influencing the behavior of institutions and processes (Vogel 2013). The past context of economic systems affects the current development of the society. Actual changes that took place in history are the outcomes of divergent tendencies and contradictions that arise during the ordinary functioning of the community (Mouffe 2014). The methodologies and analysis of the Marxist theory help in the interpretation of various political ideologies as well as social movements and especially in an element that involve power, conflict, and human relations.

The history of the feminist theory can be traced from the abolitionist movement of the late 1830s. The convention on human rights that took place in Seneca Falls under the leadership of Elizabeth Cady and Lucretia Mott launched the efforts of fighting for equality among all sexes (Pateman & Grosz 2013). The convection led to the declaration of the sentiments that demonstrated that men and women are equal, and thus they should have similar opportunities. Gunew (2013, p. 83) notes that in Germany, ‘several feminists fought for the rights of women to initiate sexual relations regardless of their marital status’. Marianne Weber advocated equal treatment of women in social institutions and particularly marriage. For liberal feminists to support social changes successfully there needs to be proper legislation and efficient regulation of employment because they view sexism as the primary obstacle to equality.

According to the radical feminists, the privileges and power shape social relations and utilize the tool of patriarchy to ensure the oppression of women (Pateman & Grosz 2013). Feminism entails a conglomeration on political ideologies and social movements that have the sole objective of achieving equal rights for women that are similar to those of men. The theory supports political, social, and economic equality between men and women. Feminism seeks to establish similar changes for all both in employment and education by promoting the social rights of women (Barrett 2014). The feminists re-examine the roles of women’s experiences, chores, and interests concerning established processes and systems within society.

The theory aims at achieving gender equality by avoiding instances of discrimination against women. The feminist theory refutes the patriarchy system that views men to hold more power and dominance in all the spheres of life including political leadership, religion, and the absolute right to own and control property (Barrett 2014). Some feminists also disapprove of the postulation that sees men as the father figures who hold the authority over the children and wives. The theme of negative stereotyping against women is an essential element that the feminist theory addresses (Pateman & Grosz 2013). The theory postulates that thoughts and beliefs aligned to hold women in a subordinate position are erroneous.

The feminist theory coincides with Marxism by relating the division of labor to the expectation accruing from gender roles. Gender entails socially constructed roles that are attributed to both sexes (Kennedy 2013). In some societies, it is the role of women to give birth and nurture the children while the responsibility of men is to offer support to the family. In this view, men assume the role of the bourgeoisie while the women are the proletariat. Men exclusively on the resources of the family due to the superior position they occupy and they have the sole mandate to redistribute the earnings to the other family members (Lane 2015). Similarly, the ruling class in the Marxist theory owns the means of production thereby oppressing the working class by extracting the surplus profits rather than redistributing them to the workers.

Both Marxist and feminist theories advocate a revolution. The radical feminists postulate sexism as a primary weapon that men use to oppress women. The discrimination against women acts as a viable conceptual model of comprehending other divergent forms of oppression (Barrett 2014). Consequently, radical feminist advocates a drastic realignment of society. Through a revolution, feminists seek to abolish the male supremacy in both the economic and social contexts by opposing the prevailing male social institutions as well as norms. The radicals attempt to remove the gender equality barriers created by sexual objectification and the traditional definition of women’s roles in society (Lane 2015). The revolution does not follow pure political processes, but it encourages women to raise their voices against abusive social structures enacted by men and refuse reproduction responsibilities.

Consequently, the Marxist theory advocates a revolution as a way of emancipating the working class from the oppression of the bourgeoisie. The social revolution emerges from the dissatisfaction of the proletariats who seek the initiation of a production system that distributes the production profits in an equitable and organized way (Mouffe 2014). The objective of the insurgency introduces joint ownership by eliminating power and control among the political cohort and elites who own the production machinery.

Alienation plays a critical role in both feminist and Marxist theories. Women become the subjects of class-oriented capitalism due to the inferior position that they occupy in patriarchal societies (Kennedy 2013). The repression of women stems from the nature of their work both at the domestic and national levels. Women are also alienated in making political decisions due to their misrepresentation in leadership positions in the social and economic organizations. Similarly, the Marxist theory depicts forms of labor characteristics among the bourgeois society as a profound form of alienation (Lane 2015). The earnings that the working class receives in exchange for its work contribution alienate them from the right to receive an equitable allocation of production profits.

The two theories differ in their ultimate objectives. The feminist theory is interested in gender equality through the abolishment of the patriarchal system while Marxism rejects capitalism. Through communism, the workers gain awareness of their afflictions thus bringing into action an ideal system of a classless society where benefits are shared amongst all (Mouffe 2014). The Marxist theory observes the change of power in society to coincide with economic relationships because individuals define themselves by social relations. The shift of society from feudalism to capitalism creates stratification within the society (Barrett 2014). Subsequently, the power to control both the social and legal institutions is skewed towards the side of the bourgeoisie.

Furthermore, the Marxist theory abhors capitalism because it articulates authority to the control of educational, political, and religious systems on jurisdictions of the ruling class, thus alienating the middle and the lower classes (Lane 2015). On the other side, the focus of the feminist theory is to reject the postulation that women possess fewer abilities as compared to men. Men supremacy denies women their fundamental rights and demands them to initiate vibrant awareness to avoid instances of discrimination and stereotyping.

Although both theories have a social dimension, the Marxist theory is more concerned about the economic and the educational system of society (Mouffe 2014). The disparity in the level of education assists the bourgeoisie in the acquisition and maintenance of power at the expense of the illiterate who are involved in the production of goods and services. Karl Marx also believed that economic dominance leads to more authority that is political in nature (Lane 2015). In this regard, fiscal systems result in the establishment of a wealthy category of individuals who own industries while the lower and middle classes provide cheap labor. Other social institutions such as churches, prisons, and courts among others are established to sustain the gap between those who are economically powerful and have-nots (Kennedy 2013). However, the feminist theory lays less emphasis on the monetary systems because it attributes the suffrage of women to patriarchy. Male dominance over women is the primary cause of oppression in all other critical spheres of life including business, power, and marriage.

Feminism bears a discrepancy from Marxism due to the lack of unique goals. Multiple feminists have varying opinions among themselves and the emergence of many controversial topics on equality between the two sexes (Lane 2015). Varying waves in the generation of feminism is characterized by different demands. Initially, in the 1700s, women feminists advocated the establishment of a vindication of their rights that was later followed by the declaration of sentiments in 1848. The second signal in the generation of feminism started in North America through vigorous campaigns of gender equality. Other brackets of women in the late 18 th Century shifted their attention to issues of sexual orientation and identity (Kennedy 2013). As time unfolds, the feminists’ agenda keeps on fluctuating, thus creating a distinction from the Marxism theory.

Social and political theories are significant in shaping international politics. The Marxist theory postulates the position of the bourgeoisie in controlling the means of production while the middle and the lower classes provide labor in the manufacturing of goods and services. The feminist theory focuses on ensuring that both men and women acquire similar rights economically, socially, or politically. The similarities inherent between the two theories include alienation and their advocacy for a revolution while the discrepancies arise in the ultimate objectives and economic dimension. Besides, different feminists promote varying opinions with time.

Barrett, M 2014, Women’s oppression today: The Marxist/feminist encounter , Verso Books, New York.

Gunew, S 2013, Feminist Knowledge (RLE Feminist Theory): Critique and Construct , Routledge, London.

Kennedy, S 2013, ‘Marxism and Feminism in an Age of Neoliberalism’, Irish Marxist  Review , vol. 2, no.7, pp. 5-16.

Lane, D 2015, ‘Book Review: Dangerous Liaisons: The Marriages and Divorces of Marxism and Feminism’, Political Studies Review , vol. 13, no.3, pp.393-394.

Mouffe, C 2014, Gramsci and Marxist Theory (RLE: Gramsci) , Routledge, London.

Pateman, C & Grosz, E 2013, Feminist challenges: Social and political theory , Routledge, London.

Vogel, L 2013, Marxism and the oppression of women: Toward a unitary theory , Brill, Leiden.

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