Feminist Theory

Marxist

Liberal | Marxist | Psychoanalytic

Marxist Theory: Fundamental Belief

According to Marxist feminists, the oppression of women is not directly caused by an individual's intentional actions, but rather by the social, political, and economic structures within which the individual lives. A person's entire identity is based upon production; we are what we are because of what we produce. Women, because of the second-class role in which they are placed, form negative concepts of themselves due to the socially and economically subordinate roles assigned to them by their family and workplace.

Comparable Worth

In recent years, there has been an increasing uprising among Marxist feminists when it comes to the idea of "women's work." Not only were women required to do such things as cooking and cleaning in the private sector, but as the need for labor increased outside of the home, women were expected to do domestic work for commercial use, as well. It was not the concept of women working outside of the home that angered Marxist feminists, but rather the trivialization of "women's work" itself. Women were working long hours in poor conditions for little reimbursement. Many Marxist feminists proposed paying women for housework, but many people thought this would simply trivialize husband-wife and mother-child relations. Other Marxist feminists believed that payment for household chores would decrease the incentives for working outside of the home.

As Marxist feminists became less interested in the sexual division of the household and more interested in workplace politics, the idea of equal pay for equal work came to the forefront. Many Marxist feminists were angered by the lack of equality in wages and demanded that all people, whether they be man or woman, be paid the same amount of money for comparable work. Marxist feminists support this idea for two sets of reasons. The first, dealing directly with the concept of the "feminization of poverty," states that nearly half of all poor families are headed by a single woman. Because these women are not paid what their jobs are worth, they are forced to accept government assistance in order to support their families or, in worse case scenarios, depend on a man to help sustain life for them and their children. The second, comparable worth will eventually eliminate the sexual division of labor by attracting equal amounts of men and women to all kinds of occupations. "Women's work" and "men's work" will receive equal benefits thus ensuring no one will feel forced to seek employment at a job they do not enjoy simply because the benefits are better.

Comparable worth is a concept of great importance to Marxist feminists. Not only does it equalizes the structure of the workplace for both men and women, but it undermines the capitalistic ideals of what is valuable work

**Information gathered from Tong, Rosemarie Putnam, Feminist Thought, 1998.