closed, the gender gap in pay has widened and pornography and prostitution have
increased dramatically (Hoffman, 2001: 141).The domestic labour debate
Of course, many socialists disagreed vehemently with the Communist Party states,
even while they maintained a loyalty to Marxism. The domestic labour debate which
took place in the pages of the British journal, New Left Review, sought to examine
the position of women in the home and their relationship to the capitalist economy.
Some argued that domestic labour produces value in the same way that other labour
does, and therefore women who work at home should be paid. Despite controversy
on this point, there was general agreement that the family is linked to capitalism,
and that domestic labour and who does it is an important issue for feminists to
tackle (Bryson, 1992: 241).
Even socialists who disagree with Marxism have accepted the need to ensure that
women in the workforce are paid equally and should be able to combine domestic
and professional duties. Women and men may receive the same pay for the same
job, but where there are occupations in which women predominate (like nursing
and primary school teaching), workers in these occupations receive relatively low
pay. Women in Britain earn about 75 per cent of men’s pay – whereas the average
over Europe is 79 per cent (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1962036.stm).
Socialist feminists feel that the market and free enterprise do impact upon women’s
lives, and that improving pay, employment prospects and conditions of work, are
crucial questions for feminism to consider.Problems with socialist feminism
Liberal feminist critique
Liberal feminists like Betty Friedan and Naomi Wolf (who wrote Fire with Firein
1993), feel that socialist feminists are divisive in not accepting that some women
might go into, and make a success of, business. Their dynamism and entrepreneurial
flair should be both rewarded and acknowledged, and to regard feminism as a class
question is unhelpful and narrowing. All women will benefit from a free system of
production based on the market and capitalism.
Women are individuals who should be entitled to exercise choice, and the
tendency by socialist feminists to see work outside the home as crucial for
emancipation is not borne out by the many women who choose to stay at home
and live fulfilled and happy lives. Liberal feminists are not opposed to reforms that
facilitate working outside the home, but they are opposed to an ideological position
that seems to privilege this.
Liberal feminists would (like many other feminists) point to the authoritarian
character of Communist Party states as evidence not only of the generally320 Part 3 Contemporary ideologies