marxist feminism essay

Marxist Feminism Theory

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Marxist feminists view capitalism and patriarchy as inseparable systems. They believe capitalism relies on the unpaid domestic labor of women to function, and that this exploitation reinforces patriarchal power structures within society.

Key Takeaways

• Marxist feminists see the family as a tool of capitalism and that it is capitalism, not men, who oppress women.
• They see the family as oppressing women while support capitalism in three ways:
• Women reproduce the workforce and socialize them into a social hierarchy.
• Women absorb the anger of men who are frustrated by their alienation and exploitation (cushioning effect).
• Women are a reserve army of cheap labor that can be activated when they are needed and let go when no longer needed

What Is Marxist Feminism?

Marxist feminism is a branch of feminist theory which argues that the main cause of women’s oppression is capitalism.

This type of feminism is based on the understandings of Marxism, proposed by Karl Marx and collaborator Friedrich Engels in the 19th century. Marx demonstrated how capitalism was able to grow through the exploitation of labor.

Social classes were described to explain how one class controls the other as a means to produce goods. People who are of a high-class level of economic condition are the bourgeoise, whereas people who are of a low-class level are claimed as the proletariat since they become the labors of the bourgeoise (Marx & Engels, 1848).

Marxist feminists regard classism, rather than sexism, as the fundamental cause of women’s oppression. They explore how ideas of gender structure production in capitalism and argue that women are exploited by a capitalist society.

While some Marxist themes may not be as relevant today, Marxist feminists can still be used to explore how the political economy is gendered in late-stage capitalism and how the social reproduction of people and communities renews capitalism (Armstrong, 2020).

Whilst Marxist feminism can affect all individuals, this article will be focused on cisgender women in typically heterosexual relationships since this is who much of the research and theory centers on.

The Key Issues According to Marxist Feminism

The main view of Marxist feminists is that the traditional nuclear family only came about with capitalism. They believe that the traditional role of the housewife- who does not have paid employment and resides in the home completing domestic tasks- supports capitalism.

Marxist feminists claim that while the proletariat are oppressed through the capitalist system, women are double oppressed through capitalism as well as through the nuclear family.

Women’s oppression is thought to support capitalism in multiple ways, which are detailed below:

Women reproduce the labor force

In a capitalist society, women are expected to reproduce children. These children will then grow up to be the next generation of workers and mothers.

Women are also socializing the next generation of workers and ‘servicing’ the current workers (their husbands) with their unpaid domestic labor. Thus, women are supporting capitalism through their own means of reproduction, according to Marxist feminists.

Unpaid domestic labor of women

Marxist feminists claim that there is a division of labor between men and women: men are assigned economic production, whereas women have been assigned reproduction of the workforce.

In a capitalist society, more value is given to the production of material goods by men, than the reproduction of people by women.

Domestic work which is usually carried out by women include household chores, house management, and childcare. This labor is not respected in capitalist society since there is no exchange value. It is, therefore, devalued, and unpaid but expected to be done, nonetheless.

Marxist feminists explain that the unpaid labor of women is a way to exploit them. It is done for free, and it benefits both men and the capitalist system.

Capitalism would not exist without this unpaid labor because workers would not be able to work all day if they also had to take care of their children and the house (Cottais, 2020).

Women are a reserve of cheap labor

Since the primary role of women in a capitalist society is in unpaid domestic labor, they were usually restricted from working a paid job. However, women are used as a reserve, to be taken on temporarily when required by the bourgeois.

This was observable during the World Wars when most men were sent away to fight. When the men were away, many women were enrolled in the work that they would have otherwise not been allowed to do (Grayzel, 2013).

However, the women would have been paid less than the men and many would have had to return to their unpaid domestic duties once the men returned from war.

Women take on emotional labor

While not directly creating any produce or service, Marxist feminists claim that women must provide emotional labor under a capitalist society. This refers to the labor that is involved in keeping family members emotionally stable, so they can work efficiently.

The partners of the women may be understandably frustrated by the exploitation they experience by the bourgeois and women are often expected to absorb this frustration which may result in domestic violence.

How Was Marxist Feminism Developed?

Although Marxist theory was not initially focused on women’s issues, it was realized that under a capitalist system, women were exploited by not being paid for the reproductive and emotional labor they were involved in.

Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl Marx, is thought to be one of Marxist feminism’s pioneers in England in the 19th century among others such as Rosa Luxembourg.

During the suffrage movement in the early 20th century, class systems were considered when working-class women forged their own movement for the right to vote alongside white middle-class women.

It was not until the 1960s and 70s when Marxist feminism became particularly popular, resounding the most with women of the time. Marxist feminism is thought to have arisen in reaction to liberal feminism , whose fight failed to go beyond equal rights.

Marxist feminists argue that legal liberation is not enough to free women since it does nothing to abolish the patriarchy in social relations (Cottais, 2020). A few of the key women who contributed to the development of Marxist feminism as a theory are Chizuko Ueno, Anuradha Ghandy, Claudia Jones, and Angela Davis.

What Are The Goals Of Marxist Feminism?

Abolish capitalism.

The main goal of Marxist feminists is to abolish capitalism. Through this, they believe that patriarchy itself can be tackled. Overthrowing the existing economic system is thought to liberate women.

Since capitalism is at the root of inequality and patriarchy is a product of capitalism, removing this system should eliminate gender inequalities.

A classless society

Instead of capitalism, Marxist feminists advocate for a classless, communist society. Through a classless society, both the upper-class and working-class people will be treated equally.

Other solutions can be proposed such as reevaluating the reproductive work through the collectivism of domestic work and childcare.

The vision of Marx and Engels was to ensure that there was a collective ownership and the basic dignity of women in society, thus the domestic duties will be shared equally between partners.

More women in the public sphere

Since women’s exclusion from paid work makes them more oppressed, a way to combat this is to integrate women into paid work and the public sphere. This includes ensuring that women are paid equal wages to men and are offered the same opportunities if they have the necessary qualifications.

Marxist feminists do not generally seek to exclude men from feminist struggles, in fact, they often want to avoid separation between the sexes for fear of fueling a class division (Cottais, 2020).

Valuing domestic labor

Marxist feminists do not necessarily disagree that domestic labor should be ignored. Likewise, if a woman chooses to not work and instead take care of the household and children, then they should be free to do so. However, Marxist feminists wish for domestic labor to be as valued as reproductive labor.

For domestic labor to be fairly valued, Marxist feminists argue that women should be paid for domestic work. Being paid for this work puts an economic value on what is still largely considered women’s work.

Control over reproductive rights

If women have more reproductive rights and more of a choice as to whether to be a parent, they have more choice as to their role in society. Capitalist societies see women’s main job as to be a mother and nothing else.

So, if women realize they have a choice as to whether to go down this path, they can feel more liberated to do what they want to do.

Strengths And Criticisms Of Marxist Feminism

Marxist feminism has shone a light on how women are oppressed by a capitalist society. Attention has been drawn to the intersection of capitalism and patriarchy and the importance of taking both class and gender into consideration in feminist demands.

It considers how some previous feminist movements may have been more focused on the rights of middle-class or upper-class women, with working-class women being ignored or forgotten in history.

Marxist feminism can also highlight how working-class women are not only subservient to men, but often to wealthy women. More women and men recognize that there is often an imbalance in the share of household and childcare responsibilities.

This awareness means that couples can discuss and come to agreements as to how to split the duties. Many more men take on an active role in the household which can allow their partners to relax or to work on their career.

Likewise, people in relationships can start to be more aware of whether they are unwillingly doing more of the domestic duties. If someone’s partner is not willing to take on more of the unpaid labor and this is making them unhappy, then they can consider whether this is the person they want to spend their life with.

Ultimately, more people can find a partner who suits their lifestyle and do not have to settle for someone who is not helpful or supportive.

A main criticism of Marxist feminism is that women’s oppression is thought to have been prevalent in the family system before capitalism existed.

Therefore, it is doubtful whether men would suddenly stop exploiting women in a classless society. In fact, sexism and oppression of women can still be found in communist political parties, trade unions, and left-wing militant structures.

As such, viewing Marxism as a condition for women’s liberation ignores sexism as a whole and may only deal with a small percentage of the wider issue. Marxist feminism has focused heavily on the intersection of class and gender but initially did not always incorporate the intersection of race, sexuality, or disability alongside these issues.

A black woman in a mostly white capitalist society, for instance, would be oppressed because of being a woman, but also for being black. Angela Davis discusses the intersection of race on Marxist feminism in her book ‘Women, Race, & Class’ (1981).

Marxist feminism may also be criticized as not being relevant in today’s society. Since more women have the opportunity to work and have the choice as to whether to bear children, they are not necessarily restricted to being a traditional housewife, unless this is what they choose to do.

Thus, many aspects of Marxist feminism may now be outdated.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between marxist and socialist feminism.

Marxist and socialist feminism can often be confused and sometimes used interchangeably. While they may be similar, a way to distinguish between them is by their view on women’s oppression.

Marxist feminism considers capitalism to be the root cause of women’s exploitation, which is analyzed through the construct of social classes. However, socialist feminism takes both class and gender factors into account when it studies how patriarchy-capitalism articulate (Cottais, 2020).

How does intersectionality relate to Marxist feminism?

Intersectionality acknowledges that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression based on factors such as gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and disability, among others.

While intersectionality views all forms of oppression as equally important, Marxists highlight how class is the fundamental dividing line in capitalist society.

Marxist feminism is intersectional since it considers how women are double oppressed under capitalism. First by being a woman, and second by their social class.

Are women in paid work still affected by capitalism according to Marxist feminists?

Many may criticize Marxist feminism by stating that it is not relevant to modern day society since more women are able to work in paid jobs and do not have to be restricted to staying in the household, doing chores, and caring for their children.

However, for women, there are some barriers which can make it harder for them to have a career and children at the same time.

Women who work in paid jobs are often still required to complete their ‘second shift’ when they return home (housework, childcare, and home management), which uses up more of their time and energy (Arruzza, Bhattacharya, & Fraser, 2019).

While it may not be the case for every household, heterosexual women are still shown to complete more hours of ‘unpaid labor’ compared to their male partners (Seedat & Rondon, 2021).

Likewise, the jobs which are typically undertaken by women (e.g., care work and teaching) are often underpaid meaning that they may not sufficiently cover the costs of raising a child.

To make life easier, many women may resort to working part-time or quitting work completely, falling back into the role of a housewife while relying on their husband’s income.

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Marxist Feminism

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Introduction

Marxist feminism refers to a set of theoretical frameworks that have emerged out of the intersection of Marxism and feminism. Marxism and feminism examine forms of systematic inequalities that lead to the experiences of oppression for marginalized individuals (Ehrenreich, 1976 ). Marxism deals with a form of inequality that arises from the class dynamics of capitalism. It understands the class inequality as the primary axis of oppression in capitalist societies. Feminism deals with another form of inequality which is the inequality between the sexes. Feminism understands gender inequality as the primary axis of oppression in patriarchic societies. The goal of the Marxist feminist framework is to liberate women by transforming the conditions of their oppression and exploitation.

Marxist feminism is an emancipatory, critical framework that aims at understanding and explaining gender oppression in a systematic way (Holmstrom, 2002 ). Marxist feminism emerged as a...

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Marxist feminism  

Marxist feminism is a strand of feminist theory that grounds its perspective in Karl Marx’ work on capitalism. It argues that women’s oppression is linked to the gendered structures of capitalism and the system of private property. Marx’s division of labour into productive—that is, remunerated labour mainly done by men—and reproductive labour which is unpaid and carried out by women constitutes the basis of women’s inequality in patriarchy. Marxist feminism as a core theoretical frame for feminists largely fell out of favour from the 1990s, with the fall of the Communist regimes in eastern Europe. However, certain key ideas such as the importance of economic capital in structuring relations of production and reproduction have continued to be significant in feminist thinking on women’s position in the economy and the labour market, and in how that position structures their relation to men and to people who are positioned differently from women within the economy and the labour market.... ...

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Socialist/Marxist Feminism

Introduction, early marxist feminism.

• 20th-Century Socialist/Marxist Feminist Theory
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• Sexuality and Race: 21st Century
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• Socialist/Marxist Ecofeminism: Late 20th to Early 21st Centuries
• Socialist/Marxist Ecofeminism: 21st Century
• Socialist Feminist Revolution: Seeds in the 20th Century
• Socialist Feminist Revolution: Fruition in the 21st Century

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Socialist/Marxist Feminism by Wendy Lynne Lee LAST REVIEWED: 15 January 2020 LAST MODIFIED: 15 January 2020 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780190221911-0088

The long arc of Marxist scholarship certainly reaches many domains—economics, sociology, political ecology. However, few scholarly projects have likely benefited more, or offered more, to sustaining the relevance of Marx and Marxism than the feminist analysis, interpretation, and application of the Marxist critique of capitalism. From the earliest translations of Marxist thought into revolutionary action, socialist feminists have sought to introduce sex and gender as salient categories of capitalist oppression, arguing that being a woman bound to patriarchal institutions such as marriage is comparable to a working-class laborer bound to the wage. Friedrich Engels also plays a key role in the socialist feminist appropriation of Marxist ideas. By showing the extent to which marriage is about the maintenance and expansion of property, Engels opens the door to a wide range of analysis concerning the material conditions of women’s lives and labors. Marxist ideas become the focus of renewed interest over the course of the American civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s. It is thus unsurprising that a wealth of new feminist and antiracist theories begin to develop during this period, as well as analyses of structural inequality, including oppression with respect to the LGBTQ community. It is perhaps the most recent work among socialist feminists, in league with other activists and theorists, however, that is both truest to Marx’s original intent and that demonstrates the relevance of his ideas to the future fortunes of human societies, namely, the application of Marxist critique to environmental deterioration—especially anthropogenic climate change. Hence, the following is organized historically but also topically. It begins with the work of early socialist feminists, looking to include women within Marxist categories of class analysis but quickly moves to arguments that sex and gender—and then race/ethnicity and sexual identity—constitute their own salient categories of oppression. This explosion of theory and activism deserves to be treated topically so that the variety and breadth of socialist feminist ideas as well as the divisions and debates among its representatives becomes clear. The critique of capitalism has, of course, always been an essentially global enterprise. It is thus not surprising that the extension of socialist feminist analyses to the Global North and Global South would produce a wealth of insight and activism. For many of the same reasons, the same is true of the rise of socialist ecofeminism. The last section comes full circle. Devoted to arguments whose focus is the justification and fomenting of revolution, The Communist Manifesto finds its place next to contemporary socialist ecofeminist calls for workers from all regions of the planet to unite to overthrow once and for all the capitalist economic system responsible for jeopardizing the planet’s capacity to support life.

Although not explicitly defined as feminist, among the key early influences on Marxist/socialist feminism is Engels 1972 (originally published in 1884). Engels 1972 argues that as early human communities became more agrarian—as the institution of private property became more and more bound to inheritance—women’s capacity for both domestic and sexual reproductive labor became a crucial commodity. The origin of the institution of marriage is not, argues Engels, love or fidelity but rather the disposition of inheritable wealth through male bloodlines. Hence, private property is intimately bound to the rise of patriarchy and to what later feminist theorists will refer to as the structural inequality of both sexual and (given the economic dependence it generates) gendered forms of class. Engels sets the scope and tenor of early Marxist/socialist feminist work either with respect to developing his insights further, or as critique. Some key works that revolve around the broad scope of these themes beyond Engels 1972 include Montefiore 2017 (originally published in 1905), Kollontai 1977 , Weil 1986 , Nye 1994 , Shulman 1996 —a collected set of essays from Marxist/anarchist theorist Emma Goldman— Lee 2001 , Weiss and Kensinger 2007 , Scott 2008 , and Bender 2012 .

Bender, Frederic. The Communist Manifesto: They Only Call it Class War When We Fight Back . New York: W. W. Norton, 2012.

This edited volume offers a range of commentary and critique on the famous revolutionary pamphlet, Marx’s Communist Manifesto . Not all are explicitly feminist in orientation, but Wendy Lynne Lee’s radical feminist critique of Marx’s references to “the community of women,” Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s postmodernist reading, and Lucian Laurat’s sociological interpretation all shed light on important feminist questions concerning the intersection of class, gender, and historical moment.

Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State . New York: Penguin Classics, 1972.

Originally published in 1884. Engels makes out a key early argument for Marxist/socialist feminism, namely that the institution of marriage is essentially a socially sanctioned form of prostitution that exists to insure male bloodlines for the purposes of inheritance. Also asserts that women’s capacity for both unpaid domestic labor and the sexual reproduction of labor and progeny is fundamental to the rise of capitalism.

Kollontai, Alexandra. Alexandra Kollontai: Selected Writings . Toronto: Alix Holt, 1977.

A truly trailblazing early Marxist feminist, Kollantai’s work encompasses commentary on the early-20th-century Russian women’s movement, the rights of workers, sexual morality, and marriage. As an agent of the emergent Soviet state, Kollontai occupied one of the few positions of power for women: minister of social welfare.

Lee, Wendy Lynne. On Marx . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2001.

This introduction to Marx (intended for undergraduates) includes brief discussion of a number of central Marxist themes, historical materialism, the critique of capitalism, the alienation of workers, and the prospects for a Communist revolution. But it also includes a chapter devoted to the critique of oppression, focused on the oppression of women and a Marxist feminist analysis of Marx’s own complex and conflicted view of women.

Montefiore, Dora B. Socialism and Women . Northhampton, MA: The Anarcho-Communist Institute Digital Publication, 2017.

Originally published in 1905. Situated in a fundamentally socialist outlook, this wide-ranging set of essays and op-ed offers a rich set of topics that give the reader a clear sense of the conflicts women faced given the essentially patriarchal distribution of access to capital, wages, and opportunity in the early 20th century. Less theory than practical advice, Montefiore is a window into the real-time implications of Engels’s arguments concerning marriage, wealth, and inheritance.

Nye, Andrea. Philosophia: The Thought of Rosa Luxemburg, Simone Weil, and Hannah Arendt . New York: Routledge, 1994.

Nye argues that although much of feminist theorizing remains a response to male figures, an appreciation of the thinking and experience of female theorists who share a history and a theoretical orientation can open up new vistas. Such is the case, argues Nye, with Luxemburg, Weil, and Arendt who broadly Marxist orientation to questions of morality and justice offer new insight to the philosophical tradition.

Scott, Helen, ed. The Essential Rosa Luxemburg: Reform or Revolution . Chicago: Haymarket Press, 2008.

Rosa Luxemburg was a critical Marxist thinker in the early 20th century. Her observations about class in Reform or Revolution , and her insight concerning the use of labor strikes as a tool to address the oppression of workers in Mass Strike still resonate with socialist activists, and especially socialist feminists. Both works are collected in Scott’s volume along with an excellent introduction.

Shulman, Alix Kates. Red Emma Speaks: An Emma Goldman Reader . New York: Humanities Books, 1996.

This volume includes a wide range of key essays from a central early figure of Marxist/socialist feminism, Emma Goldman. The volume includes selections from Anarchism and Other Essays (1910) Goldman’s autobiography, Living My Life (1931), and other sources. A prolific writer and social critic, Goldman develops and critiques Engels’s arguments concerning marriage as prostitution, the institution of private property, and women in the labor force.

Weil, Simone. Simone Weil: An Anthology . New York: Penguin, 1986.

While we might rightly regard Weil as somewhat on the margins of socialist as well as feminist theory, her work as a moral and political thinker and activist, particularly in the context of social upheaval and Marxist ideas, makes her an important inclusion in this set of early feminist and socialist thinkers. Weil has been especially influential with respect to contemporary feminist work in the critique of war and the masculinist vocabulary of war.

Weiss, Penny, and Loretta Kensinger, eds. Feminist Interpretations of Emma Goldman . University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007.

In this excellent anthology devoted to Goldman’s work, we see a wide array of contemporary feminist thinkers offer analyses of Goldman’s feminist perspective, her Marxist commitments, and her relevance for contemporary issues confronting women, especially working-class women.

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Marxist and socialist feminism.

Elisabeth Armstrong , Smith College Follow

Document Type

Publication date, publication title.

Companion to Feminist Studies

Beginning in the 1840s, Marxism has analyzed unpaid, reproductive “women’s work” as an integral part of capitalism. Marxist feminism historicizes reproduction in relation to production to better understand women’s exploitation and oppression in capitalism. Marxist feminism also theorizes revolutionary subjectivity and possibilities for an anti-capitalist future. Particularly important to Marxist feminism are its theories of imperialism and primitive accumulation, or theft, of land, resources and women’s unpaid labor to the reproduction of lives and generations.

Social reproduction, Primitive Accumulation, Imperialism, Feminized Work, Global Division of Labor, Value, Reproductive labor

Peer reviewed accepted manuscript. From the forthcoming book:

Elisabeth Armstrong, “Marxist and Socialist Feminisms,” in Companion to Feminist Studies , edited by Nancy Naples. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2020.

Recommended Citation

Armstrong, Elisabeth, "Marxist and Socialist Feminism" (2020). Study of Women and Gender: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA. https://scholarworks.smith.edu/swg_facpubs/15

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A Feminist Marxist and Psychoanalytic Analysis of The Importance of Being Earnest

2023, Unveiling Layers of Wilde's Masterpiece: A Feminist, Marxist, and Psychoanalytic Analysis of "The Importance of Being Earnest”

Oscar Wilde's enduring comedic masterpiece, "The Importance of Being Earnest," initially perceived as a lighthearted farce, conceals profound layers of meaning and social commentary. This essay employs three prominent literary theories-Feminism, Marxism, and Psychoanalysis-to unravel the complexities within Wilde's work. From a Feminist perspective, the play critiques Victorian gender norms, revealing how women like Gwendolen and Cecily navigate societal constraints while exhibiting moments of agency. The Marxist lens exposes the superficiality of upper-class values, illustrating the characters' obsession with titles and lineage, and highlighting class-based exploitation. Psychoanalytic scrutiny unveils repressed desires and motivations, particularly seen in Algernon's adoption of the "Ernest" persona and the women's fixation on the name, reflecting a yearning for unconventional love. Despite societal limitations, Wilde's characters challenge norms, presenting opportunities for feminist analysis. The Marxist critique lays bare the materialistic nature of Victorian upperclass marriage, while the psychoanalytic lens delves into characters' hidden desires, providing a comprehensive understanding of societal dynamics. In conclusion, "The Importance of Being Earnest" transcends its era as a timeless masterpiece. This essay demonstrates how literature serves as a rich source for commentary on gender, class, and human psychology, inviting readers to reflect on the profound truths embedded in seemingly trivial comedies.

Related Papers

Maroof Ahmed

This paper attempts to present how reality and fiction intersect in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest to challenge, if not subvert, social obligations and perception of identity in Victorian society. In so doing, the paper critically attempts to touch upon the concepts of duality and appearance as they possess the utmost importance for the Victorian sense of morality. The article also strives to show how Wilde undermines the basis of the truthful representation of gender identity instead of the Victorian perception of the term. In the play, as the paper argues, Wilde hints at the idea that there is a difference if we can call it a duality of identity between the appearance and what is hidden beneath. In the case of the fictional characters, they wear fake identities or imagine a view of identity to suit the public's expectations, challenging the perception of stable autonomous identity that the Victorian believed. However, the inner and outer worlds of the characters are pretty different from inside and outside, so that they constantly +vacillate in-between these identities. The paper concludes that, as Wilde hints, it is impossible to define a person fully when they display various identities simultaneously as in the modern sense.

This essay discusses how Wilde addresses the very nature of being. In repressive Victorian society, he chronicles the emergence of a self that is hidden and double and thus must exist at the margin, if not in the shadows. The result in Wilde’s private life is an identity in flux that reveals him as an identity migrant, who at one moment is the Victorian father and husband, and at another, the homosexual lover of Lord Alfred Douglas.

Modern Drama

Sarah Balkin

Oscar Wilde’s “The Portrait of Mr. W.H.” (1889) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) both centrally feature imaginary persons. In “The Portrait of Mr. W.H.,” Wilde’s narrator says that “all Art” is “to a certain degree a mode of acting, an attempt to realise one’s own personality.” The Importance of Being Earnest assigns actors’ bodies to the imaginary person of the title. My essay examines what it meant to realize a personality on the late-nineteenth-century stage in light of recent scholarship on character, stage properties, and materiality. I argue that – because theatre shows the constructedness of material and corporeal being, because farce renders male identity a matter of genre, and because Wilde unifies the characters’ desires under one name – The Importance of Being Earnest uniquely locates personality in a living human body.

Yakaiah Kathy

Caroline Lee

Facta Universitatis (Series Linguistics and …

Magdalena Nigoevic

Akshay Kumar Roy

Adilah Zabir

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)

Svetlana Bochman

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MIA : Library of Feminist Writers

Marxists Internet Archive Library of Feminist Writers Selected writings of feminists of each of the “three waves” of feminist political activity. Intellectual Property laws prevent the Marxists Internet Archive from reproducing the works of most of the major feminist writers of recent decades. However, key chapters and articles have been reproduced for educational purposes only. The First Feminists (Classical Liberalism) “ The causes that have degraded woman, whether they arise from a physical or accidental weakness of faculties, time alone can determine; I only contend that the men who have been placed in similar situations have acquired a similar character ” Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) English radical who was the first woman to systematically enquire into the causes of women's oppression. [ Full Biography ] Harriet Taylor (1856-1915) Friend of John Stuart Mill, and her work was published under his name, one of the earliest arguments for the emancipation of women, in the tradition of classical liberalism. [ Full Biography ] Feminism and Social Democracy “ The women’s question, however,is only present within those classes of society who are themselves the products of the capitalist mode of production. We find no women's question in peasant circles ... There is a women’s question for the women of the proletariat, the bourgeoisie, the intelligentsia and the Upper Ten Thousand. It assumes a different form according to the class situation of each one of these strata. ” Clara Zetkin (1857-1933) Union leader in Germany at a time when membership of unions was illegal for women, a leader of the Second International and founding member of the German Communist Party. [ Full Biography ] Eleanor Marx (1855-1898) Daughter of Karl Marx, took up the fight against the rampant sexism within Social Democracy. [ Full Biography ] Dora Montefiore (1851-1933) British Marxist and feminist, Suffragette and founding member of British Communist Party. [ Full Biography ] Olive Schreiner (1855-1920) South African-born, British socialist and novelist. [ Full Biography ] Lena Morrow Lewis (1862-1950) American socialist and union organiser. [ Full Biography ] Vida Goldstein (1869-1949) Australian suffragette, feminist and anti-militarist. [ Full Biography ] Mary Beard (1876-1958) American socialist and historian. [ Full Biography ] Alexandra Kollontai (1873-1952) Leading member of the Bolshevik Party who led the Russian Revolution, and a member of the Workers' Opposition. [ Full Biography ] Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960) Daughter of Emmeline, along with her sister Adela fighter for women's suffrage and socialism. Sylvia was a Left Communist. [ Full Biography ] “ when we abolish the slavery of half of humanity, together with the whole system of hypocrisy that it implies, then the ‘division’ of humanity will reveal its genuine significance and the human couple will find its true form ” Evelyn Reed (1905-1979) Member of the American Trotskyist movement, socialist feminist, was one of the first to challenge anthropological and other spurious justifications for patriarchy. [ Full Biography ] Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) Author of The Second Sex , the most significant review of approaches to the critique of women's role in history and modern society. De Beauvoir was an Existentialist. [ Full Biography ] Modern Feminism (“Second Wave”) Betty Friedan (1921-2006) Psychologist, a student of Kurt Koffka, who criticised Freudian psychoanalysis for its rationalisation of sexist attitudes; exposed the deep crisis affecting American housewives, excluded from the workforce and confined to housework. [ Full Biography ] Clara Fraser (1923-1998) Socialist-feminist, founder of Freedom Socialist Party in Seattle. Kate Millett (1934-) Radical Feminist, who argued for the expansion of the conceptions of historical materialism to include the processes of domestic labour and reproduction. May have coined the word “sexism.” [ Full Biography ] Germaine Greer (1939-) Australian Radical Feminist [ Full Biography ] Juliet Mitchell (1940-) New Zealand-born, British feminist who endeavoured to reconcile feminism with psychoanalysis. [ Full Biography ] Barbara Ehrenreich (1941-2022) American Socialist feminist and journalist. [ Full Biography ] Sheila Rowbotham (1943-) British socialist feminist; wrote for the Trotskyist ‘Black Dwarf’ before publishing ‘Women’s Liberation and the New Politics’ arguing that women were oppressed in cultural as well as economic terms. A pioneer of women’s history. [ Full Biography ] Angela Davis (1944-) A member of the CPUSA for some time, Davis is a supporter of Cuba and an active campaigner for radical alternatives to prison. Her criticisms of the exclusive focus of the modern women's movement on the concerns of middle-class white women was influential. [ Full Biography ] Laura Limpus ( ) Shulamith Firestone (1945-) Radical feminist who argued that the concept of class should be expanded to encompass the notion of women as a sex-class , and thus utilise the ideas of Marxism and class struggle to understand the nature of women's oppression. [ Full Biography ] Marlene Dixon ( ) Socialist Feminist who argued both against the overreaction of feminists against socialism and the antipathy of socialists to feminism. Spender, Dale (1943- ) Historian who has contributed to uncovering the role of women in history, and analysed the historical development of the women's movement itself. [ Full Biography ] Lynn Beaton (1947-) Australian Marxist and feminist, worked at the Working Women's Centre at the ACTU and researched the socialisation of women's labour. Gimenez, Martha ( ) Argentinian Marxist Feminist [ Marxist Feminism site ] Ebert, Teresa ( ) Argues for a feminism based on historical materialism, against the postmodern feminism of people like Judith Butler, which she calls “ludic feminism.” [ Terea Ebert home page ] Linda Nicholson ( ) Historian who has contributed to uncovering the role of women in history, and analysed the historical development of the women's movement itself. [ Full Biography ] Seyla Benhabib (1950- ) Turkish feminist, social philosopher and Critical Theorist. [ Home Page ] Cornell, Drucilla ( ) American “Ethical feminist,” professor of political science, women's studies, and comparative literature at Rutgers University. [ Feminist Theory Website ] Writers are listed by (birth-death) years. Large type indicates writers who are most often cited and indicates particularly important writers. Not every feminist writer on the MIA is listed above, as there are more in the Women and Marxism Archive . History of Women's Liberation Movement | Encyclopedia Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement , from Duke University Classic Feminist Writings , from CWLU First Wave , Second Wave and Third Wave feminists from Wikipedia (The “waves” are not defined in the same way as we have chosen to periodise the women's movement. The conventional numbering does not recognise the educated women of the late 18th/early 19th century, part of classical liberalism, as a distinct movement from the later movements which were connected to social democracy. The “third wave” refers to feminists of the 1990s and after who recognised the way in which earlier feminism had been blind to the femininity of Blacks, working class and other women, and developed a much more general, reflexive analysis of status subordination.) Women & Marxism | Search | Writers | History | Subjects | Encyclopedia History Archive Subjects Section Encyclopedia of Marxism Cross-Language Section What's New? Contact Us Marxists Internet Archive Last updated on 16 April 2023