|
Tuesday, 03 March 2009 11:02 |
Right-wing politicians have always worked against the women’s liberation movement. Especially over the past one hundred years, women have claimed many victories against oppression in society. But where did this oppression come from? There has been oppression since the beginning of class society – when the desire of property-owners to pass on their property resulted in wives becoming property – but prior to that, the overwhelming bulk of scientific evidence shows that men and women, living mainly as hunter-gatherers, contributed equally to the running of the community.
Even in pre-capitalist England, the household economy (as opposed to the fields) was headed by women. Cheese, cloth, wool, bread and all other basic goods were made at home, giving women some sway. With the rise of capitalism, there came the separation of production and reproduction. Work and home became separate spheres. This in turn led to men to dominate society in both the workplace and the home (which was utterly dependent on wages). Women were reduced to breeding machines. However, women have proven that they should be treated with respect and dignity. Technology has made differences between the sexes pretty much irrelevant in terms of production. Today there are few jobs that a woman could not do. One hundred years ago, factories required much more heavy lifting etc. Obviously, women can use forklift and trolleys to mitigate any difference in strength. When the men went away to wars in the twentieth century, society suddenly realised how dependent it was on the work of women for it survival. |
