A Critical Approach to Marx and Feminism
The capitalist mode of production requires a continually growing workforce in order to meet the production demands of a ‘constantly expanding market’. This, in turn, requires continued and widespread heterosexual reproduction in order that capitalist states continue to profit from overpopulation.Beyond the active workforce, the capitalist mode of production also requires overpopulation in order to... Continue Reading →
The discovery of missing 33 year old Sarah Everard's body has drawn substantial media attention over the past few weeks. The subsequent arrest and charging of a serving Met police officer in connection with her murder has sparked national and international outrage. Women across the country are sharing their experiences of male violence, including harassment,... Continue Reading →
Today, many lesbians are choosing to avoid lesbophobia and misogyny by identifying as men and transitioning to replicate a ‘male appearance’. Of course, it is not possible to change sex, but the appearance of men’s secondary sexual characteristics can be mimicked through surgery and maintained by continuous hormone use. An obvious example is the actress... Continue Reading →
I, like so many women, have watched the news of Sarah’s disappearance and the subsequent arrest and charge of a serving police officer for her murder. We have all watched with our hearts in our mouths and a beating sense of dread as the story unfolded. Women, every woman, knows that we could have been Sarah. Women... Continue Reading →
Dangerous Relationships: Pornography, Misogyny and Rape by Diana E. H. Russell looks at the relationship between pornography and how its growth has fuelled the conditions for misogyny and rape to flourish. The text begins by picking apart the complex nature of defining pornography, and the various ways it manifests harm, using previous case studies, feminist... Continue Reading →
The ongoingcMegan Markle controversy reached new heights this week after her tell-all interview with American TV show host, Oprah Winfrey. After facing years of mounting hostility, Meghan is now considered an element hostile to the Royal family and has found herself the subject of a very British denunciation. In speaking publicly, Meghan is guilty of... Continue Reading →
Part III: We cannot abstract labour from its social context ‘value converts every product into a social hieroglyphic.’ Marx, Capital Vol I In light of the enormous sex disparity between producers and consumers within the sex industry(majority female sellers; majority male buyers), prostitution and other 'sex work' cannot be considered outside of its historical, material,... Continue Reading →
Singletons, cynics and feminists unite! The 14th of February, as we all know, signifies the annual commercialisation of romantic love. As Marxist feminists, we at OTWQ see Valentine's Day as a homage to the bourgeois nuclear family — pah! Of course, we couldn't let it pass without criticism. With that in mind, we have ten... Continue Reading →
Part I: Can sex be considered a commodity? ‘A commodity appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood. Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.’ Marx, Capital Vol I In an attempt to move beyond the moralism that frequently surrounds... Continue Reading →
The North East already has already some of the worse of the cuts and a huge lack of investment. Working class communities such as Sunderland, Hartlepool, Northumberland, and Co. Durham have suffered hugely over the decades with loss of industry and lack of real investment – Under Thatcher, New Labour and now the Tory government.... Continue Reading →