fJueun has 13 post(s)

Silvia Federici mentions multiple events throughout the chapter, The Accumulation of Labor and the Degradation of Women, in order to convey how the political and economic conditions brought along a new trend of labor force, impacting the population of lower working class, and in particular, the female population.

The start of this movement towards capitalism began with the Enclosure and the tendency of land privatization, a trend among wealthy lords and farmers of Europe. This was the act of taking away the system of public land ownership (used for agricultural purposes) and taking control of these lands for their own profit (Frederici, 2004: 79). The result was disastrous, because it destroyed entire villages and communities, depriving the people of what seemed to be their only way of survival; it destroyed their way of living. With no other source for food, many within the peasant community became very poor and this further broke down the solidity of the rural population. People begged for jobs, and young family members left home to become wonderers known as vegabonds. Moreover, these people were forced to become dependent on others for survival, particularly to their landowners and employers, because wage became a type of enslavement.

The core of how this event relates to the degradation of women stems from how this movement completely destroyed women’s independence. When this movement struck, women were at a disadvantage because their lives weren’t suited to become vagabonds or migrant workers. Several limitations they faced include having to care for their children and being subject to male violence; this prevented them from adapting a nomadic life style (Frederici, 2004: 83). Furthermore, women were ostracized by society by often being excluded from waged occupations, and earning less then men even while doing the same work. As a result, the only place they could work was at their homes doing reproductive labor. However, the problem was, because the trend was turning towards monetary values, there was a heavier value put on actual production of market commodities rather than the reproduction of workers. Therefore, even the one thing that they were allowed to do, which was procreation, was deemed utterly valueless. This may have been the cause of women being under-acknowledged within society and being viewed as weak, dependent beings who can’t survive without their husbands. The society and government made it so that women would be powerless without men, and this act of taking about their ability to become, or rather, remain capable individuals is the defining instance where women suffered degradation.

Angela Davis utilizes numerous figures and events in her effort to discuss the early women’s rights campaign and the issues that reside within. In particular, the Seneca Falls Convention is an excellent embodiment of what Davis argues in regards to the relationship between gender, race, and class. First of all, the terms gender, race, and class are similar in that they are all categories where inequality exists. The world categorizes different individuals into each of these sections and often time people are judged depending on where they belong. Moreover, this sets a boundary among people who are not in the same category.

The Seneca Falls Convention began as an effort to address women’s rights. Created and operated by female abolitionists Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the convention discussed issues regarding male supremacy and female inequality in many aspects of life. According to Davis, what it lacked was the consideration for the working-class women and the Black women (1981:58). Mott and Stanton, like most female abolitionists, were middle-class women who had the time and the resource to spend on their extraordinary activities. On the other hand, women of the working class and of the Black community experienced totally different life styles. Unlike those of the middle-class, these women had to fight to live through each day, hence falling victim to racism and injustice within their own distinctive environments. Whatever these women suffered, the women of middle-class were most likely oblivious to it. This is evidenced when Davis mentions how workingwomen and Black women were literally being ignored, despite their efforts to fight against male supremacy and female inequality in their own unique way (1981:60).

Davis almost portrays the female abolitionists as racists themselves, as they go out of their way to exclude and inferiorize the Black community. Quite an irony, seeing as how they identify themselves as those against the act of slavery, and fighting for the freedom of those under slavery. Abolitionists were the ones who segregated Frederick Douglass’ daughter from her school (1981:64). They were the ones who disrespected and disapproved of Sojourner Truth speaking at their convention because she was Black (1981:67). One can infer that these abolitionists were only against the “act” of slavery, for their horrendous infliction on another human being, yet they were still racists in their own way of judging others because of race and class.

Davis is pretty clear in his argument that the women’s rights movement had flaws. The reason for that is because of gender, race, and class; it separates people into groups, making it hard to step out of one mindset and understand the experiences of those different from them.

My name is Joy Euam and I am a senior nursing student at the Hunter Bellevue School of Nursing. I was born in South Korea and came to the US at the age of 10. Therefore, I sometimes feel that I am part of two different cultures. I am excited to learn about the issue of gender and sexuality and examine it from multiple perspectives, including the impact of culture and race.