FEMINIST THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT INEQUALITY

Feminist Theory of Employment Inequality



Feminist Theory of Employment Inequality

Introduction

Feminist theories are varied and diverse. All analyze women's experiences of gender subordination, the roots of women's oppression, the perpetuation of gender inequality, and remedies for gender inequality. This paper discusses feminist theory of employment inequality in a concise way.

Feminist Theories

Liberal feminism argues that women's unequal access to legal, social, political, and economic institutions causes women's oppression. Liberal feminists advocate women's equal legal rights and participation in the public spheres of education, politics, and employment (Calasanti and Bailey, 1991).

Radical feminism claims women's oppression originates in men's power over women (patriarchal power). They argue that men control women's bodies through violence, objectification, and men's status in social institutions, such as medicine and religion. Radical feminists see sexism as the oldest and most pervasive form of oppression (Calasanti and Bailey, 1991); they argue that the eradication of patriarchy and compulsory heterosexu-ality are key to ending gender oppression. This would be accomplished by increasing women's control over their bodies, including transforming sexuality, childbirth, and motherhood, and by eliminating patriarchal social relations.

Marxist and socialist feminists root gender inequality in capitalism. They argue that capitalists and individual men exploit women's unpaid reproductive labor—both within the family and in the workplace (Newman, 2005). Women are exploited as a low-wage and expendable reserve army of labor. Marxist feminists claim capitalism produces patriarchy that will end with capitalism's demise. Socialist feminists argue that patriarchy and capitalism are separate systems of oppression but that they do intersect (Newman, 2005). They call for economic and social change, specifically of relations within the family, as well as changing access to education, health care, economic opportunities, and political power.

Feminist Theory and Employment Inequalities

In a 1972 article in the International Journal of Aging, Myrna Lewis and Robert Butler asked why feminism ignored older women. A more pertinent question today is: Why are gerontologists ignoring feminism? Aging can be defined as a feminist issue because women make up the majority of older adults, and because older women are disproportionately affected by poverty and chronic illness. In addition, community-based, long-term care of older adults largely depends on the labor of women caregivers who are unpaid (i.e., family, friends), underpaid (i.e., nurses aides, personal aides), and often invisible. The demands of providing such care can have negative consequences for women in old age, particularly low-income women of color (Rai, 2003). Employment discontinuities created by care-giving across the life span frequently translate into lower retirement and work income in old age. A feminist approach thus seeks to make visible and to validate the importance of women's daily experiences as family caregivers, and to show how this role affects their social, economic, and health status in old age (Rai, 2003). A feminist analysis of old age cannot be separated from one of older women and, in turn, of care-giving throughout women's lives. Care-giving of older adults is thus one way to illustrate feminist theory related to aging.

Constructs of a feminist theoretical perspective on old age include ...