å Sunday, September 10th, 2017

Alfie Corteza
Section 9

In Caliban and the Witch Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation, by Silvia Federici, there is a fundamental concept, and it is the degradation of women. It is all caused by the actions of the governments enforcing laws and social rules that place women in numerous predicaments in Europe in the medieval ages.

An example is the portrayal of women as infamous antagonists in rebel activities. Society at the time had thought women had a sense of superiority as there was a belief that they were above the law, and would be protected by their husbands. However, it was quite the opposite in reality as these portrayals of women were debilitating, as misogyny was already on the rise and women faced violence from males. At a time when food and money were difficult to come by, becoming a vagabond, a migrating worker, or a nomad was nearly impossible because of the possibility of having to take care of their pregnancies or having to care for young children. On top of having a difficult time an occupation, females at the time had disadvantages when having a job. At the time female wages were the lowest and was considered a fraction compared to males, and women’s work became separated into its’ section known as “women’s labor” which was thought to be easier and less cumbersome. Ultimately women had no access to earnings resulting in staying in a position of permanent poverty and relying on a male for income.

Another aspect that reveals the unreasonably harsh laws against women would be related to pregnancy. Even though women were considered lesser than the men, society heavily relied upon their one benefit, which was having a uterus and having the possibility to procreate. But what is truly appalling is the fact that the government approved of public spying on women and any wrong doing, and on top of that, society had the power to act as harshly as they wanted for punishment. Some actions would be being excommunicated from a town for years on end, being physically marked, being drowned by tortuous machines, and even life imprisonment. In the end, the woman didn’t receive the gratitude of giving birth to a newborn, but rather the doctor did.

These aspects make the female gender look as if they are a hindrance to society, and are not robust enough to take care of themselves. By making use of women and leaving them with destitute and stripped of any personal rights, it left them with no other choice but to take actions that risked their lives. As a result, those actions would be then placed upon all females and would create a negative portrayal of women.

Before the privatization of land, rural communities included land reserved for communal activities. People could convene here without worry of another party’s interference. The open land system was eventually abolished and physical barriers divided land. This was the end of the communal area.

The privatization of land displaced many and gave rise to the system of production-for-market (Frederici, 2004: 83). Gone was the self-sustaining system of production-for-use. The methods of making a living shifted from providing for one’s self to exportation of the product. This gave rise to the wage system, which institutionalized a form of slavery (Frederici, 2004: 81).

The impact of this economic change treated women in ways not experienced by men. Women had lost their forum and space to meet with one another without interference of men. (Frederici, 2004: 80). They had fewer options to rely on when making a living. Where their counterparts could carry weapons into combat, or be seen as capable wageworkers, the role of women was boiled down reproduction. Women were not credited for their laborious work, that being replenishing the work force (Frederici, 2004: 83). What was held in high value was being able to produce, whereas to reproduce was not. This was one of the most significant ways women were degraded in the aftermath of land privatization.

Following this was the import of silver and gold from America. The European wage system allow for these two imports to regulate prices.

The means of production was taken away from the poor since land was privatized and work became compensated in wages. The wage collapse followed the importation of silver and gold from American and the resulting price regulation effects these two materials would have. Work hours increased and wages decreased. Food became scarce of producers would horde their products and food became the most desired materialistic thing (Frederici, 2004: 91).

The wages of women plummeted far below what they had for men (Frederici, 2004: 86). The poor could not sustain themselves and would starve. Desperation lead to food revolts, usually lead by women, in which businesses would be raided for their food (Frederici, 2004: 91). Prostitution increased dramatically during the wage collapse and the exploitation of women had reached a new way of degrading them.

Woman were never seen or treated as equals to men. They were only seen as subordinate, housewives, whose sole purpose was to serve man’s needs and reproduction.This is the role that in general, we are told and believed to be factual. The truth of the matter is that women often played an essential role within the military and acquisition of land,and also lead protest not only alongside the antislavery movement and women’s suffrage but also by going on strike in opposition of having their bodies used as baby making machines for either their slave owners or the men in the military (Frederici, 84,106). Woman fought on their own to integrate themselves into society and be seen as equals however as much as they fought, men always had ways to degrade women and continually squash their hopes of ever be treated fairly. The jobs of midwives were even taken away by male doctors, who became the dominant authority in the delivering babies. This allowed the government to gain power over the population ratio to ensure that there was enough food and supplies to go around. Midwives, prostitutes, and unwed pregnant women, were either charged with infanticide or forced to terminate their pregnancies. This was the ultimate form of degradation to the women during those times because being capable of bearing a children, was the only real power that they had left. And yet this miracle of life that only women could provide, was taken away, their bodies were used, abused, discarded like trash and thrown in jail. (Frederici 101). Any control women had over their bodies and pregnancies was eventually taken away, as governmental policies changed to gain capitalistic power, essentially turning women into incubators, breeding future labor workers to multiply capital accumulation. Though this all may have occurred in the middle ages, presently the government still has laws that control women’s bodies and their ability to procreate. (Frederici 106) Abortion and birth control laws are heated topics of debate in congress and even used as campaigning strategies, perhaps not completely for accumulation, but most definitely to gain popularity and win elections within different political parties.

Much like Angela Davis, Silvia Frederic takes us on a journey of capitalization, imperialism and land privatization. Silvia illustrates that women suffer the most from land privatization that occurred because of capitalization. Due to this economical destruction, women’s moral status within society was reduced. In contrast to this statistic, we can incorporate Silvia studies within society. We still observe these patterns of the past being integrated into the present. For instance, women are still the domestic workers in the home while the husband ventures out to work in order to provide for the family. This continues to be a norm in South America, the Caribbean and eastern countries like India. Due to this imbalance women are highly dependent on their husband’s salary in order to take care of the home and family. This position makes the husband superior/ bread winner in the home. Consequently, he makes all important decisions with regards to the household affairs and is also responsible for setting and enforcing rules.
Conversely, Silvia portrays this ideology of the past by establishing how social structures affect the lives of women and why this problem continues to surface. She points out that land privatization caused this problem. During the 15th century, Europe was once controlled by a feudal system. With this system, peasants were given land for their cooperation during war. Within the peasant society they lived comfortably and happy. They had their own governor/chiefs who made the decision as to when to harvest the crops, which location was best for cultivation due to the untimely and harsh weather. In addition, because civilians did their own work, they established their own resting days. It was also a system of self-reliance hence they profited from their hard labor. After the decline of the feudal system, many women lost their jobs as breeders or industrial workers. Their jobs became redundant. Additionally, during this time finding jobs for women was a difficult task. It was quite evident that men were readily hired to do laborious jobs as opposed to women. Nevertheless, this depression subjugated women to become prostitutes, robbers or borrow as a means of survival. Another event that escalated during land privatization is that many women fought back to keep their land from expropriation. Many removed hedges and levelled the ditches but were later imprisoned for their actions. During these times women felt the brunt of the depression simply because they were vulnerable. They lived through the abuse from men and sometimes became vagabonds or nomadic. Many women were pregnant and couldn’t partake in migration while carrying their children.
Similarly, land privatization also affected women through broken family ties, communal cultivation and cultural aspect. Many were left alone to fend for themselves. During this era man left the women while they went out to fend themselves. Consequently, capitalization increased, there was a surge in unemployment among women. Providing that they didn’t have any sources of income, many became homeless and lived in shelters. The economic issue forced women to become domestic workers and totally dependent on their husband’s meager salary. Many suffered abuse from their husbands and couldn’t escape the ill treatment because of the lack of employment. Also, if they resisted the treatment they were forced to face the street. Their only source of income came with tragic conditions. Finally, land privatization affected women lives because many were deemed as witches over a simple misunderstanding. Thus, many women were prosecuted and hang. This stigma further downgraded the rank of women within society along with creating misogamy. We can relate to the authors ideology because there is still impoverishment and inequality among women today.

Hello my name is Miguel Montana and this is my second semester at Hunter College. I like photography and poetry. I hope to get a chance to meet all of you! Couple more things about me, I’m 22 years old and have attended four different colleges because I like a varied experience. I’m also incredibly obsessed with chocolate covered raisins, so there’s that.

Following land privatization, Federici cites events that occurred in Europe, which led to the “degradation of women”, in “The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women.” One event described by Ferderci was the land privatization in England. According to Federci, England acquired the land through “Enclosures”. (78) “Enclosures” in England directly impacted the role of women and how they were regarded in society.

Federici states that prior to land privatization, England used an open-field system for farming. This system allowed the villagers to own and live off several pieces of land. This system was removed and replaced, by English Lords and wealthy farmers. The farming land was taking away and enclosed by the use of fences. This impacted the entire agricultural society, as agricultural became commercialized. Producing goods was for markets or for exporting, and no longer served as a food source for the village.

Following land privatization, women were seen as playing an inferior role in society. Since a commercialized society was more important, work in the home became less valued and considered “women’s labor”(84). Women could not obtain jobs that would provide a salary. If they did earn something, it was very little as compared to men. This caused women to become dependent on men in order to survive. The author also cites that when women were labeled as housewives in the 19^th century, this further degraded a woman’s place in society. Employers used the income men earned to control women and make them more dependent (84). “

“Enclosures” also prevented women to socialize at community events and share ideas with other women. This was because common land was seized along with the farming land. With limited interactions, women were being controlled. According to Ferderici, elderly women were even more vulnerable as they faced poverty and had no one to care for them. They were reduced to stealing and borrowing in order to survive.

In “The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women,” Federici described how a new social hierarchy in Europe led to the degradation of women. One of the events that led to the degradation of women was the enclosure system. Under this system, land was fenced off and no longer available as communal agricultural fields, thus making it hard for people to support themselves and their families. Money became the means by which one could support their families. In this type of society where land was privatized, it would prove to be quite challenging for women, as they weren’t able to migrate like their male counterparts due to lifecycle events like pregnancies. They were also left with the task of child rearing and not many options were available to women to work for wages. Women had to continue doing domestic work which was becoming increasingly undervalued. In the new society of production and reproduction labor, only production labor was lauded and celebrated while domestic labor was deemed good- for- nothing from an economic standpoint. When women did work, their wages were far more inferior than the wages of their male equivalent. This gender pay gap is a prime example of how women were degraded so that they would have to depend on men to take care of them.
With the new society that was developing, the wages people got were so low that they couldn’t afford decent food. Their diets consisted of bread, since that was the most affordable thing. Since people, couldn’t even feed themselves, women didn’t reproduce as much. The logical reasoning being that they could not afford to feed another mouth. Since the population was decreasing, the state decided to adopt new rules that allowed them to control a woman’s reproductive rights. The government sought out to punish women who committed what they believed to be reproductive crimes. The state degraded women by conducting a witch hunt, in which they vilified forms of birth control like contraception and fined women for abortions. Pregnant women were observed to make sure they didn’t terminate their pregnancies. Marriage was given a premium while celibacy was punished according to the new laws put in place. The privatization of land led to the new social hierarchy that allowed the government to control a woman’s body. This newfound control that the government gained violated the rights of women and it shows how low on the social ladder women were. It also shows the misogynistic culture of Europe during this time period.

An event that happened that is perhaps related to the “degradation of women” was Kett’s rebellion. It had started due to anti-enclosure struggles in late 15th century that continues through to the 17th century. The rebellion had about 16,000 followers and were able to capture Norwich. Kett had presented 29 demands that would help decrease anti-enclosure by removing the hedges that had surrounded Norwich. A government army had attacked the rebels where a total of 3,500 people was killed. While Kett and his brother William were hanged. (Federici, 2004:82). Due to the deaths of Kett and William, the anti-enclosure struggles had continued. There was now a noticeable presence of women who were wives, widows, spinsters, unmarried daughters, and servants. There was a belief that said that women were above the law due to being legally saved by their husbands. Federici points out that men were told to dress like women so that they wouldn’t be arrested and because of this, the government had then removed this privilege and started arresting any women that was involved with the riots (2004:83). The enclosure had started to lead to the degradation of women because it was difficult for women to become vagabonds due to the nomadic life they would lead. The time of these enclosures the men had become more misogynistic and would resort to violence. Many women were unable to work and provide for their families. However, those women who did work could get work had gotten work in the armies as cooks, washers, prostitutes, and wives. Though even that work had disappeared, so women were back where they had started. Women had found that it became harder for them to support themselves compared to men. Many women were excluded from most occupations that had allowed a steady income. When women had worked, they would receive minor wages compared to the average male wage (Federici, 2004:84-85). I found this to be depressing since even though this act of women receiving less wages than men was during the 15th-17th centuries. It had seemed obvious that we would have evolved from this since we now live in the 21st century however women pay is still lower than men but better than before.