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Karl marx feminist theory
Karl marx feminist theory
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One of the two most prominent fights for civil rights for specific communities in the 20th century in the United States were the Women's Suffrage Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. The Women’s Suffrage Movement advocated for the right to vote for women living in the United States of America. The Civil Rights movement faced the systematic suppression and oppression of African-Americans and utilized various different techniques of non-violent in order to overcome the system set against them. While there are many similarities and differences of both movements that were instrumental in the correct way to fight oppression, both utilized non-violent intentions and techniques to overcome their obstacles.
Mill said, “the legal subordination of one sex to the other is wrong in itself, and one of the chief hindrances to human improvement”(CH 1). Mill wanted to build a way for woman rights. Mills also talked about marriage is not fair on the woman side. If she was going to be separated with her husband she would have no rights to take anything. Not even her children.
People such as John Stuart Mill were passionate advocates for women’s rights. In document 1, Mill begins by saying that traditionally, the vocation of a woman is the place of a wife and mother. He believes that one is supposed to consider of women in that way, but in truth, he recognizes that by denying women the same opportunities as men, the world is denied of the talents of women. He wrote The Subjection of Women with the help of his wife. Though he was already an advocate for fairness, his wife educated him on the real-world consequences of women’s legal submission.
During this week, we have covered numerous topics, none more prominent than the oppression of women. Everyone had different opinions, allowing me to take into account different views on the issue. In one of the texts we examined, “Oppression”, Marilyn Frye, a philosopher, debates the subjugation of women. She states the cultural customs that causes oppression of women. I do agree with her view that women are oppressed, but I do not agree that it is just women.
Capitalism and Marxism are vastly different. Marxism, also known as Communism, is a concept where all property is shared and everyone is paid based on equality. Capitalism is where property is privately owned, and industry and trade are controlled by owners. Capitalism is beneficial because it allows for a higher variety of products to be put on the market, more incentives to work harder, better work effort, and higher rates of innovation. Marxism, on the other hand, boasts equal pay and treatment for all people, government control of production to ensure equal work, and the removal of the class system.
The Progressive Era, lasting from about 1890 to 1920, was a period of social reform and adaptation to the new technologies and advancements of the Gilded Age. With the increase of railroads and other means of transportation, people in the Progressive Era had access to more goods and information than ever before. Society was adapting to new industries that required less man power and more machine power, and domestic life was no different. The technologies introduced into the homes of white middle-class women meant that the workload they adopted was much lighter. Women of this era arguably felt some of the most significant changes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
John Stuart Mill wrote The Subjection of Women (1869), arguing in favor of equality between sexes. Mill compares the position of women with slavery in which control by the male sex is based on chivalry and generosity, using bribery and intimidation instead of brutality to secure obedience, deference, and gratitude for protection. Bribery and intimidation effect women economically and morally by having them depend on men, law completes intimidation by discriminatory statues. Much like Wollstonecraft had argued 70 years’ prior, Stuart took cause for women’s education.
Throughout this text, Wollstonecraft discusses how close-minded society was about women and equality. She describes society as being under the impression that women and men were two different animals. Society also believed that men were free and logical thinkers that could rule and change society while women were seen as pretty objects that could bear children. Wollstonecraft’s feminist view discusses that the problem was not only men inhibiting women, but women themselves were also not pushing against the ideology that men were superior. She continues to explain her new feminist ideology that discusses changes in society that would create equality.
In nearly all historical societies, sexism was prevalent. Power struggles between genders mostly ended in men being the dominant force in society, leaving women on a lower rung of the social ladder. However, this does not always mean that women have a harder existence in society. Scott Russell Sanders faces a moral dilemma in “The Men We Carry in Our Minds.” In the beginning, Sanders feels that women have a harder time in society today than men do.
The 20th century saw a major increase in women’s rights, getting a step nearer to gender equality. It is defined as the act of treating men and women equally, having the same access to right and opportunities no matter the gender. Although it is not a reality in our world, we do have advanced in comparison to the last century. At the begging of the 20th century women still were considered the weak gender. Their education consisted on learning practical skills such as sewing, cooking, and using the new domestic inventions of the era; unfortunately, this “formal training offered women little advantage in the struggle for stable work at a liveable wage” (1).
The inequality of women has been a long-lasting issue since its existence, with the issue still persisting today. Women have gained more rights over time in great part to efforts made by feminists, however, much progress still needs to be made. Mary Wollstonecraft, often cited as one of the founding feminist philosophers, is a notable feminist whose advocacy and ideas on femininity have acted as a strong influence for the modern conception of feminism. One of Wollstonecraft’s most prominent works in regards to feminism is A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. In the piece, Wollstonecraft uses and critiques philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s work titled Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, in order to build a case in defense of a woman’s
Marxism and feminism are two sides of a coin. Encarta reference library defines Marxism as “a theory in which class struggle is a central element in the analysis of social change in western societies”. Feminism is defined as a recognition and critique of male supremacy combined with efforts to change it. Marxism is an economic and social system.
He states, “Our bourgeois, not content with having wives and daughters of their proletarians at their disposal, not to speak of common prostitutes, take the greatest pleasure in seducing each other 's wives.” (Marx, Chapter 1) Marx clearly sees bourgeois marriage as hypocritical. The bourgeoisie claim to love their families and believe in fidelity but instead they control their wives as just another means of production and treat all women as their sexual
Karl Marx (1818-1883) considered himself not to be a sociologist but a political activist. However, many would disagree and in the view of Hughes (1986), he was ‘both – and a philosopher, historian, economist, and a political scientist as well.’ Much of the work of Marx was political and economic but his main focus was on class conflict and how this led to the rise of capitalism. While nowadays, when people hear the word “communism”, they think of the dictatorial rule of Stalin and the horrific stories of life in a communist state such as the Soviet Union, it is important not to accuse Marx of the deeds carried out in his name.
In the Communist manifesto, a well known quote of Marx, “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” This is introductory to the first part of the pamphlet and a conclusion to Marx’s theory about class struggle. Marx’s highly structured on how the class struggle emerges and affects the development of a society. The development of a society from the old and from the new is the result of the conflict of classes in the society.