III. Radical Feminism
Radical feminist theory focuses on the uneven distribution of power that men hold over women in society (D’Unger 2005). According to radical feminists, violence is the ultimate expression of male dominance over women, and therefore domestic abuse and sexual assault (as well as other, similar crimes) are manifestations of such dominance and exploitation (D’Unger 2005). Views that provide tacit (as opposed to overt) approval of such dynamics are demonstrated in various forms of research pertaining to differing views on pornography, sexual assault, and violence that are held by men and women (Bromberg 1997). According to D’Unger (2005), radical feminist researchers tend to focus on issues related to women’s sexual oppression and victimization, sexual harassment, and pornography. Further, the support for domestic violence interventions has been spearheaded by radical feminist supporters contending that such crimes were long unacknowledged due to similar tacit social approval of such violence within society (D’Unger 2005). The radical feminist contends that such violence is normalized through the lack of public resistance to this category of crime and also contends that women themselves begin to see this type of treatment as typical and acceptable because no contrary opinion is noted, particularly in the lives of those girls who are socialized within an abusive home.
IV. Marxist Feminism
Feminist advocates under this subcategory draw much of their thought from the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (Jurik 1999). The original tenets of Marxist feminists held that women’s subordination was the result of a system in which men held and controlled most private property in society (Jurik 1999). Indeed, not only do men hold more private property, but this ownership tends to be transmitted intergenerationally from the male parent to the male offspring, further perpetuating private property ownership among male members of society. Central to the works of Karl Marx was the emphasis on the division of labor. Marxists contend that the wage earners, officially termed the proletariat, are exploited and controlled by the wealthy bourgeoisie. This type of system is considered a form of economic oppression in which the rich control the masses by rewarding the wage earners for the production of desired goods and services at levels that are just high enough for them to exist, but low enough to ensure that they must continue to work in order to subsist. It is in this way that the wealthy maintain control over the working class and ensure that the latter must continue to consent to such a system of exploitation.
For feminists, this theory of power and exploitation goes one step further in defining notions of power through the division of labor in society. Within a capitalist framework, it is the males who tend to go into the workforce, and these men tend to develop the job skills to earn a higher wage than women who choose to enter the workforce. It is through this process and the unequal access to higher-paying job markets that women are further exploited, even though they may be members of the proletariat alongside their male counterparts. Thus it is that female members of the proletariat are doubly exploited, both by the bourgeoisie and by their male partners in the proletariat.
However, Marxist feminists do not contend that this imbalance will last forever. Rather, the purest of Marxist feminists contend that capitalism itself will be short-lived, similar to the contentions of any member of the Marxist school of thought. For Marxist feminists, this means that ‘‘capitalist expansion would eventually force all women into fulltime labor force participation. The incorporation of women into the workforce would lead to the demise of the nuclear family’’ (Jurik 1999, p. 33). From this point, it is contended that the removal of demands from the family system will eventually make men and women equal because their primary value will be derived from their wage-earning abilities (Jurik 1999). Marxist feminists contend that such a system will be necessary so that women and men can come together to realize their mutual plight of being exploited by the wealthy bourgeoisie. Just as with traditional Marxism, the ultimate goal of Marxist feminists is to overthrow the capitalist power structure. Thus, it is the capitalist system that is thought to be the ultimate culprit behind female inequality. The removal of a capitalist system, according to these feminists, will also remove the gender bias within such a society.
However, it became apparent to many Marxist feminists that there was more to male and female inequality than was attributed to capitalism alone. It was clear that other factors did come into play when structuring this system of power and control. From observations in various socialist countries (particularly during the 1960s and 1970s) in Central and South America, as well as in Eastern Europe, it was clear that the removal of capitalism did not result in equality for women (Jurik 1999). Further, as time went on, family structures did modify and divorces were more prevalent, but it became clear to Marxist feminists that there was not necessarily a disintegration of the family (Jurik 1999). Further, it was clear that even with such changes in society, there still existed serious limits for women in the workforce that did not necessarily exist for men. Thus, women were subordinate to men in socialist societies as well (Jurik 1999). Adding to this was the fact that further equality of women in the United States had not caused the complete demise of the family. While it was true that the traditional nuclear family had been fragmented, family systems were morphing into new but cohesive groupings that consisted of the blended families and other familial groupings that had adapted and modified themselves to a more egalitarian society. Granted, problems did exist with this process of transformation, but it was clear that the family had not simply disappeared in the process.