The work by Silvia Federici “Wages against Housework” mainly focuses on the reasons the women are being misused in the community for doing a lot of work at the expense of the men. Silvia brings out the fact that the issue of wages against homework is being seen in the lane of a personal view which makes the argument to continue to be rooted in the communities today. The individual perception of the matter is affecting the capacity of the women to efficiently fight the problem which Silvia believes is the source of the issues (Federici, 1975). Silvia advocates for the effect to be seen from a political view which he thinks that will result in the information about the problem being spread faster and thus causing the point to be changing more quickly than it is being done currently. For instance, the fact that men do not pay for the housework services that the women are offering to them at their home thereby worsening the trials to stop it ( Federici, 1975). This brings in the masculinity effect in which the men are demanding that the women submit to their duties as a sign of respect to them being cautious enough to love them and marry them. Silvia also highlights some social structures that are significantly contributing to the women being pinned to the different housework duties while the men enjoy all the freedom. These comprise of marriage and love, in which the women has been trained to believe that it is their core obligation to maintain their romantic relationship by always obeying the man in everything that they do, which in turn has cut down their ability to fight against such poor treatment that the men are giving to them in the society today. In doing, Silvia points out the way the mothers teach their daughters the primary road to appreciate their men by doing all the house chores and doing it with purpose so that there is no complains even if it is too much for her to handle ( Federici, 1975). This implies that the women grow up that doing housework is their core duty at the house and they have nothing they can do to change it, which serves as one of the most significant impediments to the eradication of the issue from the community.
Shulamith Firestone in the “Dialectic of Sex” claims that there exists a great deal of inequality which is being directed towards the women in the society. The inequality problem is believed to be the primary reason that they continue to suffer at the hands of the men who think that they are powerful and the women should always be their subordinates in all that is being done at different places in the community. However, the Shulamith believes that the issue is gaining roots in the society because of the failure by the community members to realize the simple fact that the question can better be handled when it is viewed on a political note ( Federici, 1975). The reason being that if seen from a political perspective it will help in creating awareness among the people about the gender inequality that is making a large number of women to be subjected to men in the society. It is also because of Shulamith’s belief in the fact that there are some social structures in the culture that may deter a change from happening if the problem is seen in a personal view. For instance, the women view of housework as something that is they were born to do on this earth for the men which helps the men in misusing them and remaining the powerful group in the community. This view point is the primary reason that they get to promote the problem itself by teaching their little girls to always submit to their men, because it is a privilege for them to get married to them. The explanation also makes an issue of trying to illustrate the different points that are being faced by the women basing on the economic classism (Firestone, 2003). Shulamith uses the Freud’s theory of materialism to explain the oppression that is being felt in the community by the poor and the women in particular. It also uses the Marx theory on materialistic approach to sexism problem that is affecting the society today. It is from this that Shulamith brings out Freud’s findings on the various dynamics of psychology very correctly in its very close social context but paying close attention to the different structures in the community that tend to bring about inequality (Firestone, 2003).
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The two authors work differ considerably basing on the number of social problems that are affecting the community in which the two are tackling. Shulamith handles more social issues than Silvia. The social issues that are addressed by Shulamith in the city comprised of gender inequality, classism, and many other issues (Firestone, 2003). On the other hand, Silvia’s work is focused on the disparities that the women face in their homes as they serve the various men who love them and have married them. Therefore, Shulamith work is more productive as it tackles issues that affect both genders in the society doing the work to be more compelling than Silvia’s. In doing so, Shulamith checks on a wide range of factors that bring about the various problems that are being seen in the community (Firestone, 2003). She talks about the economic factors that may result in inequality in the community, which makes her introduce the various forms of discrimination that are being seen in the society, such as socioeconomic classism, racial discrimination, and feminism.
She also brings out one of the most common factors between the two authors in explaining the different social problems that the community is facing currently. The two authors both claim that the societal structures play a pivotal role in making the issues be perceived on a personal note as usual. For instance, Silvia claims that the society teaches the women to always subject themselves to the men at all times by making their children grow up perceiving the man to be a particular being than the woman. Silvia also talks about the women themselves taking part in the promotion of the problem as they have agreed to be dominated by the men to levels that they cannot see it as an issue but as a regular thing that they have to do for them to maintain their position in the man’s heart. On the other hand, Firestone holds the same opinion about the society structures playing a crucial part in promoting various inequalities by claiming that it is the way people have failed to demolish the classism frameworks that exist in their neighborhoods be it social, economic, or political that is, in turn, resulting to the increased suffering of some groups while some group take a sweet time (Federici, 1975).
They both state that the failure to address that the people are having is their tendency to try and perceive the different problems that are affecting them on a personal level instead of politicizing them. They both agree politicizing the issues will ultimately result in different groups coming in to educate the people about the problems various social, economic, as well as political structures that are affecting the healthy life that is expected in a civilized society (Firestone, 2003). However, in doing this Silvia does use her theory while Firestone pays attention to the various approaches that try to explain the social problem that is affecting the community such as Freud’s theory of historical materialism as well as Marx’s theory of materialism (Firestone, 2003). The two approaches have proven to be very helpful in identification of the various issues that affect the society such as the discrimination problems as well as the dialect of sex. On the other hand, Silvia also uses the capitalist theory of to help the people to understand the various issues that the women are being made to face especially of the payment of the housework services that they offer to the males to satisfy them.
All the authors are perfect in the various sociological problems that they were trying to put forth through their work. For instance, they both agree to the same thing such as the failure to view the social issues from a political point of view is the primary cause of the increased spread of the problem. Secondly, they all use different theories to back up their explanations which makes them be very effective in driving the main point home among the desired clients ( Federici, 1975). They are also set to reach the people aware of the different issues that are affecting the community and help them solve them by making them first to understand the various causes of these problems that do require a lot of attention to be given to them. However, the fact that Firestone’s work touches on a lot of issues than the way Silvia does makes Firestone’s job to be very excellent in nailing the points home and helping the society in dealing with the problems that are impeding its fast growth (Firestone, 2003).
References
Federici, S. (1975). Wages against housework . Bristol: Falling Wall Press.
Firestone, S. (2003). The dialectic of sex: The case for feminist revolution . Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
