Capitalism, Racism, and Patriarchy
A specific targeted attack is needed to dismantle systems of oppression (RACE CLASS AND GENDER)
Marxism alone cannot adequately address inequalities of race and gender because it ignores the historical impacts of race and gender
As such critical problems will persist
Patriarchy is not just a superstructure
It is an independent oppressive system which must also be dismantled before true revolution can occur
Patriarchal norms will persist in the home (home is a reflection of society)
Marxist revolution alone is not sufficient for gender and race equality
Patriarchy and Capitalism and Racism all oppress women as allied but independent systems
Therefore the revolution that Marx envisioned, a society
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All the services provided for women are disproportionately provided by women for example childcare services and even after a revolution they are likely to stay the same since Marxist theory ignores how these systems have manifested : occupational segregation for example.
Even if laws are created to address these systems it will be difficult to enforce them within a society that has been conditioned by these racist and patriarchal beliefs and as such will most likely fail to have any meaningful impact
Culturally women are just assumed to take on domestic duties. That the majority of childcare, nursing, housekeeping are still predominately occupied by women only serves to highlight the cultural significance of patriarchy which Marxism ignores.
Even under Marxism this suggests that society would be hesitant to abandon the traditional role of women as the homemaker and therefore ignore how this dynamic would result in women being subjected to a disproportionate burden within society. A true revolution would to address these inconsistencies of burden and benefit, which Marxism inherently ignores.
As such Marxism fails to address racist and patriarchal institutions which on the surface appear
The first and most crucial step to solving an issue is to recognize that the issue actually exists. Many people fail to recognize that race has a correlation to the way that a person is treated in their society. In many aspects of American society, a person's race is a major determinant to how they are treated. Race impacts the way a person is treated in the workplace, by police and in the doctor’s office. Race grants privilege to those who it
The novels of The Road by Cormac McCarthy and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins deal quite deeply with the common theme of Good vs Evil. This is as in both the world that we live in was destroyed by a great tragedy, leaving the characters in a world and state that allows for the more innate forms of humanity to show through much easier- whether they be good or evil. Though that is not for the same reasons in each story as in The Road the characters have no structure of society so the true dark of humanity can still be seen, while a different form of dark can be found in the structure of the government and the Game in The Hunger Games. As it attracts in life so this dichotomy of good and evil and the struggle between them in both the true
While social change has brought on more changes than what women are a custom too, at one point in history women actually felt a form of importance in fulfilling their roles not only in the home; but outside as well. “These demographic shifts account for many new or altered roles, such as increased number of duel-earner families, later and fewer marriages, fewer children, increased life expectancy, and the massive migration shifting employees across a nation and across the globe” (Lindsey, 2011, pg. 275).
We have all sat through multiple history classes and learned about slavery, segregation, and the Civil War. We have all seen brutal movies and presentations based on racial injustices and the lack of equality. So often, we forget that these issues are still so present in our community. Slavery is illegal in the United States but other forms of racial profiling, insensitivity, and racism continue to be a recurring social barrier. Racism is still very much alive. The United States is “equal” yet somehow segregated. There isn’t quite a quick fix to this problem. Clearly, this has been an ongoing issue and requires major progression in our personal global
So, in modern day society, if we have “evolved” or “revolted” into equality; why are women still paid less than men in the same jobs? What would Marx and Gilman have to say about the subject?
The resilience of women and the hardship of men were prominent during this time. However, women were still deeply grounded in their home life (Bolin, 74). Particularly women from middle-income families were left with job of being able to balance work and home life (Bolin, 74). Being a caregiver and taking care of the domestic needs of the home was very important. During this time tradition values were deeply routed in the home. Women made sure not let their home life consume them because their may focus was being a good wife and mother. This is a trend that has made its way even in today’s society. “Even now lack of adequate day-care (necessitating private baby-sitting service), low paying jobs for women, and the growth of technologies that open the door to and “electronic cottage industry”, indicate that women’s home production is a mutable but perhaps permanent response to women’s economic and social inequality under capitalism” (Hollingsworth, & Tyyska). The oppression in the past is shown to have made and imprint on society even to this day. Even though
The birth of the modernist movement in American literature was the result of the post-World War I social breakdown. Writers adopted a disjointed fragmented style of writing that rebelled against traditional literature. One such writer is William Faulkner, whose individual style is characterized by his use of “stream of consciousness” and writing from multiple points of view.
Numerous men made incredible changes in their communities and got Anglo politicians’ attention; unfortunately, these men often forgot about the women who fought alongside them. The most of the men were ruled by machismo thought while others combined traditional mentalities to Marxism, which was a communist theory in which there are no social classes and each person works and is paid according to their abilities. This way of thinking was beneficial to the men who sought higher wages and rights that were equal to those of their Anglo comrades.
Depression, in general, affects more than 340 million people around the world and is reported to be the highest cause of disability in high-income countries (Demissie). 15% to 85% of mothers can experience postpartum “blues” with postpartum depression rates between 11.7% and 20.4% in the United States alone (Ersek). This depression can occur at anytime from post-delivery up to one year (Ersek).
Published (2001) in RACE, GENDER & CLASS, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 23-33, special issue on Marxism and Race, Gender & Class. It is posted here with permission of Jean Belkhir, Editor
The last hundred years have brought the world many valuable things; computers, better sanitation conditions, understandings of diseases, vaccines, surgery, education, and so much more. But there are so many social constructs that have made little progress such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. In reality vaccines and sexism are manmade, a vaccine is a manmade invention and sexism is a manmade idea. Neither would exist without human beings backing the idea that they are necessary. Racism is “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior (Oxford Dictionary).” Racism over the last hundred years has been directed towards Blacks, Hispanics, and Asian’s. Looking at the past in relation to racism in the United States, reveals that racism is still alive and well in 2015 just as it was in 1915.
“Look at us! We’re just like everyone else. We’ve bought into the same ridiculous delusion; this idea that you have to settle down and resign from life.” (April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road). It has become a society norm that women are meant to serve housewives; to cook, clean, garden, and nurture children, even though they are much more capable of other things. The role of women is greatly overseen, as they are not perceived to be of their full potential, rather than as societies idealistic expectation. This is because men and those who are wealthy are unable to look past gender and accept women as of equal significance.
I am going to be using Marxism to interpret the book, Native Son. When talking about Marxism, it generally deals with gender, class, and race. In the book, Native Son, there are many examples of Marxism that have to do with underestimating and unfairness. This was evident especially when dealing with Chicago in the 1930 's and 1940 's when Africans were treated unfairly and were demoted.
Nowadays, in a growing number of housewives who came out of their family and became a worker, we unconsciously admitted the phenomenon that women and men are no gender differences. Under this recognition, we focused more on class equality instead of gender equality. However, in Maria Mies’s Colonization and Housewifization, she questioned about this dissertation by giving examples and facts.
According to women sociologist Martineau, feminist sociology has focused on power relationships and inequalities between men and women.How can the condition faced by women be addressed,(Little, 2014, p .31). Marx’s critique of capitalism and the feminist of patriarchy for example led to very interesting insights into how structures of power and inequality work, but from a point of view that sees only the most revolutionary transformation of society as a solution,(Little, 2014 , p. 32).