A Critical Approach to Marx and Feminism
Heterosexuality is undoubtedly necessary for the social and sexual reproduction of existing social conditions. For this reason, some radical feminists make the mistake of classifying heterosexuality as an institution — but this is an error. Instead, heterosexuality is institutionalised across all material and ideological state apparatus: education, the family, medicine, religion, etc. As society has... Continue Reading →
Lesbophobia is, like lesbianism itself, invisibalised in favour of more respected social forms. The wider amorphous ‘homophobia’ serves today as a catchall for any anti-gay sentiment, but it only really captures what gay men face: prejudice and discrimination based on their sexuality i.e same-sex attraction (to other men). Anti-gay prejudice experienced by men is pure... 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 →
Women’s economic dependence on men historically ensured that women married. Marriage was, and is still today, seen as aspiration for women and a way to access material wealth and secure basic sustenance. Though in the last half century due to the women’s movements of the 1960s and 1970s, women’s ability to sustain themselves economically has... 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 →
Today Queer Theory is taught within the Humanities subjects of the Western academy as a matter of consensus, but its historical roots half a century ago tend not to be included on the syllabus. We must ask how did Queer Theory originate? How did the prominence of queer thinkers on sexuality come about? Prior to... Continue Reading →