FeminismAsSupersetOfSocialism

Debate : Is Feminism a superset of Socialism?

The argument for :

within the typical nuclear family are power inequalities. The woman contributes labour in the creation and upbringing of children, and maintainence of the family unit and worker. This labour is unrewarded but women keep on giving due to ideological / emotional influence of patriarchy. The exploitation of this labour of women is a pre-requisite of the capitalist exploitation because this is the origin of the much of the surplus value that the breadwinner / labourer has to offer which is then exploited by the capitalist.

Therefore patriarchy is a necessary pre-requisite of capitalism and a more fundamental problem.

Feminism, which investigates patriarchy and it's implications (including capitalism) is a superset of the critique of capitalism.

Counter argument :

we can imagine alternative family units, similarly unequal, which could participate in a capitalist society. Imagine a capitalism of

ant colonies for example. Such colonies have unequal power relationships internally (between mother and daughters); and if they traded, may be eligible for exploitation by wealthier colonies. (Unequal power relationships between colonies)

Hence alternative family structures can support capitalism. Patriarchy (and the construction of the nuclear family) is one sufficient but not necessary form of family organization for capitalism to exist, therefore feminism is a subset of critique of capitalism.

WhatIsFeminism

CategoryPolitics, CategoryFeminism