Marxism and Feminism- Why Unhappy Marriage?

           The metaphor, ‘unhappy marriage’ most appropriately describes the interlocked yet conflicting relationship between Marxism and Feminism. According to Marxism, the feminist struggle is of less importance than the larger, class struggle against capitalism. It assumes that the mode of production in capitalist society naturally places women in subordinate position, in which they are exploited along with the entire working class. Hence it fails to explain why women are discriminated and confined to inferior position in both domestic and public sphere. As Hartmann puts it, “Marxists, like capital itself, are sex-blind” (Hartmann 1997, 100). On the other hand, feminists believe that the cause of gender discrimination grounds in the patriarchal structure where all men dominate women regardless of class, race and ethnicity.  Particularly, the feminists argue that the emergence of ‘family wage’ diminishes women’s labor power and ensures that they are paid low, reinforcing the system that forces women to economically depend on men.

           Evidently, Marxism and feminism hold contrasting stance on the issue of gender discrimination. Yet, the two are united under the idea that for women to be completely emancipated, all classes and forms of oppressions should be abolished.  Perhaps such parallels with the relationship between husband and wife in which, men are responsible for economic provision whereas women in return do domestic services to support the ‘breadwinner’.  While men and women are interdependent, (without women, men cannot have children or create families), the patriarchal society expects women to be submissive merely because men hold ‘larger’ responsibility. Likewise, because the focus of Marxism is to understand ‘class’ struggle and dominance in capitalist society, it indeed encompasses larger portion of the social hierarchy than Feminism. Though the liberation of women is equally important as abolishing class stratification, Marxism is perceived to be ‘dominant’ ideology solely due to its magnitude. Hence the men-women relationship in marriage and Marxism- feminism relationship in society share a paradox; the coexistence of interdependence and inequality, which is cunningly in accord with the metaphor, 'unhappy marriage'.