Feminism is the idea that women and men are equal and should be treated as such in all aspects of life, be they home, work, social capital or anything else. The original feminist movement started in the late 19th century around suffrage, which was about giving women the right to vote. Once this was achieved, the movement died down in part also because of the great depression and the Second World War. The end of the Second World War, however, heralded a new era in feministic movements. During the war, women had taken over the roles of men and were then expected to return to their previous roles as subservient home makers. This, combined with the development of the birth control pill and the free love era of the 1960s, started a large new wave of feminism.

Some of the main feministic movements are radical feminism, which looks at overthrowing patriarchal societies, and Marxist feminism, which sees women as a class comparable to the bourgeois and proletariat classes described in Marx’ theories. Socialist feminism is broader and encompasses the two forms of feminism.

Socialist Feminism Ideologies

Socialist feminism believes that true equality can only be achieved if both the economic and cultural aspects of a woman’s oppression are addressed, giving her equality in both her private and public life. Socialist feminists believe that Marx’ ideas of women being a sub class within a class and that there oppression would automatically end when their overarching class achieves domination is naïve and goes much deeper.

Socialist feminism believes that the primary source of oppression of women is psychological and social, instead of economic. They operate in a genuine concern for women and do not focus on (potential) profits. Socialist feminism feels that objectifying women as a class is degrading and paints women as being nothing more than a cog in a wheel. A cog that can be replaced, in other words.

Socialist feminism is against prostitution, feeling that a prostitute is the victim of a corrupt society. Prostitution is caused by the structuring of society and that the solution lies in restructuring society as a whole. Socialist feminism feels that all workers should stand together and show solidarity, regardless of their gender. Working class people should all stand together to fight bosses and ruling classes. The struggle is against the system that is the breeder of oppressive conditions: capitalism.

Famous Socialist Feminists

Some famous socialist feminist are:

• Alison M Jaggar
• Barbara Ehrenreich
• Zillah Eisenstein
• Nellie Wong
• Johanna Brenner
• Sylvia Walby
• Clara Fraser
• Sheila Rowbotham
• Emma Goldman
• Heidi I Hartmann
• Donna Haraway

Criticism of Socialist Feminism

Many criticize socialist feminism in the same way that radical feminism and Marxist feminism are criticized: its members seem to be mainly white, middle class women. The white, middle class generally is the bourgeois class which is the class that is supposed to be opposed according to Marxist teachings. It is felt by many critics that this takes away from the strength of the three main feminist movements.