Origin And History Of Feminism And Its Relationship With Marxism

Origin and history of feminism and its relationship with Marxism

Feminism is a political and social movement that begins at the end of the 18th century. The French Revolution was of great importance for this to arise because it struggled for freedoms, equality and rights for all people equally. I was looking to end the oppression to which they were subjected. And it was precisely the women who saw this revolution as a possibility of being taken into account really and not only devoting themselves to the work of their home and lacking fundamental rights for people as freedom of opinion and respect for equal to that of men. First they sought to gain the right to vote in gradually acquiring more respect between society.

The greatest events related to feminism are divided into waves. The first wave appeared between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Its main objective was the search for equality between women and men. He fought for the right to female vote, the possibility that they access a property and to be accepted (without any discrimination) by all laws. This first wave was characterized by being based on the principles of the Enlightenment, it bases that there was no valid reason why women are discriminated against. The problems that arose during this time were not seen from a social perspective globally but as something individual towards each woman individually.

The second wave occurred between 1960 and 1990, had an influence of postmodern philosophy, so this made feminism types diversify more and are no longer as individualistic as in liberal feminism.

It is based and takes as the cause of the oppression of women to their own history and to various social phenomena that have occurred over the years and for this reason it must be resolved from a collectivist perspective. 2 important branches appeared in this generation, the feminism of equality and feminism of difference. Both make up radical feminism, which relies on the discrimination of women is due to patriarchy (it is a form of authorization or a government that has the sole authority of man). The first feminism mentioned is that women can access the same status as man and are not oppressed by gender roles already artificially assigned at birth, such as that they should only devote themselves to home work, it hadhow Marxism influence. While the second feminism aims to end the oppression of women claiming their values and their difference with men. Mainly seeks to defend concepts and not people for that reason is one of the most criticized today.

The third wave begins in the 90s and continues today. Transfeminism arises at this time. This is a type of feminism that encompasses Queer theory, it is comments that what is considered as part of a specific biological sex or even gender are social constructions. It involves issues that previously had no relevance such as religion, race, and gender. Seeks to eliminate the sexualized stereotype of women in advertising, media, etc.

There are also types of feminisms today:

• Feminist anarchism: begins in the 60s, after the second feminist wave. It has as reference to radical feminism, which postulates that the problem that society has is that it is validated by a patriarchal system. Defends the fight against any manifestation of patriarchy.
• Abolitionist feminism: fight against the manifestations of patriarchy as prostitution.
• Separatist feminism: it is the most radical of all, since it argues that women must stay away from any relationship with men. Lesbian sex is defended as the most appropriate and the only one for women to develop sexually.

Origin and History of Marxism

It emerged in 1840 and was based on dissolving capitalist society, thus developing a model called communism, whose objective was to fight for the freedom of the working class. In addition, it seeks to become aware of the workers and be able to achieve a society that does not have classes and distinctions between them. Marxism was revolutionary because the philosophy, political economy and theories of socialism were joined to try to modify the vision of the world at that time. It is called Marxism for its German creator, Karl Marx who was a 19th -century revolutionary philosopher. And this in turn was influenced by his advisor Friedrich Engels.

Marxist thinking can be divided into two large parts: scientific thinking and philosophical thinking. The first of these refers to the fact that the social order is determined by the material basis of a society and this in turn its evolution and its development as a society. Marx postulated that there is a link between production development and its modes of production with the history of the development of a civilization. The second refers to dialectical materialism, in which he affirmed that speculative philosophy only creates contradictions. That is, the conception of history and the world is empirical. An important concept that Marx highlights in conjunction with those already mentioned above, is alienation, he mentions that men are alienated that means, that it is reduced in their humanity, to a being that is only seen as a workforce. It is for this reason that man must work to subsist and that means that they need the bourgeoisie because they themselves do not have the means of production to fend for themselves. Consequently, the worker is only part of the capitalist machine.

On the other hand, in each theory raised by Marx, various important ideas stand out, such as that the production model is not limited solely to the economic aspect, but that this determines the form that consciousness will become at a certain moment. And it always emphasizes that it is capitalism that imposes a way of seeing the world, and this triggers in a domination of a class towards others by this being the most dominant materially.

Two important revolutions that determine essential concepts of Marxism were:

• French Revolution: It was an important event because it sought that all be treated equally, it was the first great moment in which the rights of the Church were eliminated and therefore, in command of society the bourgeoisie was.
• Industrial Revolution: where the exploitation of workers in factories was reflected and is fair that Marxism postulates that this was a punishment for men. But that thanks to this the revolution could trigger that workers are heard and more valued and not treated only as a production force whose rights were oppressed.

Relationship between feminism and Marxism

Both Marxism and feminism are linked to society, since men fight to free themselves from exploitation, fight for the division of classes for Marx. And feminism emphasizes that the divisions in class society trigger more divisions such as gender. There should then be a social change that breaks with the ruling classes, which would be the bourgeois for Marxism and patriarchy for feminism. Both also highlight the concept of nature, Karl argues that it is the result of human relations as a result of social practices. And feminism argues that the "natural" behaviors assigned to women are not part of their psychological system, but have been built by society and that is why when one of them is not fulfilled cause debate among people because "It is not normal/is not natural ”of women that behavior, without taking into account that not part of them, but that many times are already deliberately granted actions. And finally the concept of human work, wealth is the result of its production and that was reflected in capitalist society. Which Marx argues that while the work is important, man should not be seen as a machine whose sole objective is to produce and to obtain wealth, but on the contrary, wealth must be a benefit, but without this meaning that menThey feel oppressed for their work center. And for feminism, the development of women at work is essential, because that way leaves their common role in home to get more involved in society. But as consequences of this, the involvement will make your environment make available to your disposal, as they have been for many years as the sole source of income.

In conclusion, Marxism has influenced feminism, both seekand Marxism to guide for many countries to govern as China or North Korea.