Autumn Robertson
WGST 3220
Marxist vs. Socialist Feminism Essay
Inequality in Modern Marriages: Marxist vs. Socialist Feminism
In 2016, a study found that sex and gender are more important than income in
determining division of chores in a marriage. “Even if women have higher earnings than their
husbands, they are expected to come home and perform a second shift of chores and childcare
(ScienceDaily.com, 2016).” Which is to blame for the inequality within modern marriages:
capitalism or patriarchy? Marxist and socialist feminist theories argue differently about which
factor plays into inequality among marriages the most. As Alison Jagger, a socialist feminist,
said “a woman is always a woman, even when she is working.” While capitalism plays a major
role in the imbalance of modern marriages, patriarchy is the primary cause of women’s
oppression. In this essay, I will reference essays by feminist theorists Friedrich Engels, Heidi
Hartmann, and Susan Okin to compare and contrast Marxist and socialist feminist theories
pertaining to inequity within modern marriages, and to argue that patriarchal society is a heavier
cause of unequal marriages than capitalism.
Marxism, or Marxist theory, is an economic analysis that claims capitalism is a form of
exploitation where one class of people is exploiting another, more inferior class. Marxist
feminists argued a similar theory on the basis of women being the exploited class: “women were
an oppressed class due to their economic dependence on men within the capitalist system
(Bromley, 2012: 70).” Marxist feminists believe women are oppressed “not only in the exchange
of their labour in the capitalist economy (paid employment), but also in their reproductive work,
work for which they were not paid (Bromley 2012: 70).” Friedrich Engels, a German philosopher
and social scientist, argued that the exploitation of women is historical from the very beginning
of the word “family.” “The original meaning of the word “family” (familia) is not that compound
of sentimentality and domestic strife which forms the ideal of the present-day philistine; among
the Romans it did not at first even refer to the married pair and their children but only to the
slaves (Engels, 1884: 154).” This historical definition demonstrates that a family can be valued
as an economic unit, an entity of labor, and that society’s idea of family today is highly
romanticized in order to hide those values. Engels went on to argue that a historical overthrowing
of the mother figure is the origin of modern oppression of women: “The overthrow of the mother
right was the world historical defeat of the female sex. The man took command in the home also;
