The Gendered Nature of Capitalism, Essay Example

The Gendered Nature of Capitalism

Doug Brown hypothesizes that capitalism is predominantly gendered and racial in nature owing to numerous elements that fundamentally define its foundation. The foundations of capitalism has always defined the organization of labor through the working class movement. In the capitalism framework, waged laborers directly contribute to the value of capital. However, the framework fails to consider the contribution the non-waged laborer has on capital. Non-waged laborers, predominantly women, have been considered as providing personal service that is not included in the valuation of capital in the economy. The capitalist framework fails to consider the fact that the non-waged labor of women in the home contributes to the labor by virtue of developing labor capacity of men as well as their own on a daily and generational basis.

The waged labor within the economy directly benefits from the work of the unwaged labor of women in the home. Doug Brown postulates that this is realized on two levels. (1) Psychologically where the role of the woman in the home, including emotional and sexual roles contributes to the psychological well-being and stability of their male counterparts. (2) Materially, where their physical labor in the home creates the man’s capacity to engage in productive labor. Capitalism also depicts its engendered nature in the form of presenting woman as a reward in their daily struggle to gain the upper hand financially and materially. By virtue of having a woman and a family at home, the male worker becomes more compliant. The inherent need to provide for the woman depicts the engendered nature of capitalism by giving the man a stake to be involved in the production process. This asserts male dominance within the capitalist framework.

Capitalism devalues domestic labor as embodied in one of the basic attributes of capitalism, division of labor. Economic class and social status predominantly defines the division of labor within the capitalist framework. However, these divisions are intricately defined by gender and race. This is evident in the manner in which capitalism distinguishes between domestic and non-domestic labor. This distinction fundamentally creates a public and private sphere, where the woman is limited to the private sphere. Distinguishing these two types of labor basically defines unwaged labor as women’s work, placing psychological and societal expectations on women and their roles within the society.

Devaluing unwaged domestic labor in essence devalues the individuals engaging in such labor. Owing to the fact that capitalism imposes psychological expectations on women, they are inherently devalued by the system as their contribution to the value of capital is not recognized. Despite the nature and complexity of domestic labor, the valuation of this labor within the capitalist framework is kept to a minimum. Individuals engaging in domestic labor outside their own households receive considerably low compensation when compared to male counterparts engaging in labor that is of lower complexity and difficulty.

Capitalism, by instituting the distinction between the two types of labor and imposing the psychological expectations on the woman to engage in non-waged domestic labor, has created a system where the man is free for complete exploitation. Under the family structure, the man is expected to provide for the woman, whose predominant role is reproduce the man’s labor capacity on a daily and generational basis.

Feminist Critiques of Neoclassical Economics

Neoclassical economist has in the past come under critique over the manner in which it depicts women, their functions and role in eh economy. There are four major feminist critiques of neoclassical economics that highlight the underlying importance of gender within economic development and analysis. They include;

• Free trade and its transformations of gender inequalities
• The exclusion of non-market activities from economic analysis
• The exclusion of power relations from economic analysis
• The exclusion of gender and race from economic analysis

Free Trade

Conventional economics holds that free trade has the ability to improve every individuals life by virtue of the efficiency gains and comparative advantage realized in free trade. However, feminist economist challenges this notion by highlighting the fact that international trade causes and reformats gender inequality. This is evident in third world countries where the shift from subsistence to specialized farming has considerably shaped gender inequality. Under subsistence farming, women were generally expected to be involved in farming so as to provide for their families. However, as third world economies move towards specialized farming, the role of women does not change, relative to the change in commercialization of farm produce. The women continue playing the role of farmers while the men control all the financial benefits realized from specialized farming. This fact is compounded by the very shift from subsistence to specialized farming. Under specialized farming, economies considerably depend on the economic output realized from the produced cash crop. However, this exposes the economy to shifts in prices and costs associated with the industry. This overdependence on a single cash crop further compounds the transformation of gender inequality.

Non-Market Activity

Nonmarket activity, otherwise known as unwaged labor, has been ignored by neoclassical economics. Such activities are perceived to have little or no economic value under neoclassical economics. Feministic economics highlights the fact that these activities have a pivotal role and influence on economic development realized within an economy. Feminist economics postulates that the inclusion of non-market activity, contrary to neoclassical economic principles, would considerably mitigate and even possibly eliminate the underlying gender inequalities. This is evident in the perception of children within the economy as public goods. Non-market activity associated with the raising of children contributes to the creation and development of human capital. This directly influences productivity within the economy in coming years.

Power Relations

In every economy, the sale and purchase of labor is an activity that is expected to be mutually beneficial to all parties involved in such a transaction. This view is largely held by conventional economics but fails to consider all the variables involved in the power relations associated with such transactions. In the trading labor, the buyer (employer) often has the upper hand over the seller (employer). Feminist economists contend that these power relations in trading labor favor men as opposed to women. Conventional economics fails to take into consideration and highlight disparities in power relations between men and women in relation to the buying and selling of labor.

Gender and Race

In economic analysis, most economic models, especially neoclassical economic models, fail to consider the effect that race, caste, class and gender have on productivity. Feminist economist theorize that economic models can provide more detailed and accurate predictions if they take into consideration aspects of gender, race and class in economic development. Individuals of from the two genders experience economic conditions differently. This is largely owing to the social aspects of economic that have a significant bearing in economic productivity, growth and development.