Comparison of Marxism and Feminism

            Marxism is a theory of economic system while feminism is exclusively connected with relationship between men and women so how do these two could possibly unite. An interesting question- the answer to which lies in understanding the basic structure of Marxism on which feminism is loosely based. Alternatively, we can first understand what feminism is all about and see how it gets its inspiration from Marxism. Feminism is the result of women liberation movement, which began somewhere in the 18th century and gained momentum in late 19th century. During this time women realized that they were not being treated the same way as men and everything was viewed through masculine binoculars. In other worlds, it was found that males were completely dominating every area including 'thinking' and this resulted in women liberation movement, which ultimately led to feminism. Feminism today exists in various forms and is characterized by an intense desire of female population of the world to be considered equal to men and thus be given same rights as men in every field. Over the years however, feminism has developed various branches and while some forms of feminism are acute or intense, essentially the underlying principles are the same. In every branch, one thing is certainly common i.e. struggle for equal rights and pride in one's gender. Feminism is thus all about understanding and challenging the existing social structures where men dominate in almost all field and women are treated as mere objects. .

             Marxism understood this problem a long time back when in Communist Manifesto, Engels and Marx asserted that psychological enslavement of women is closely connected with capitalism which endorses patriarchic social structures and strengthens them. Marxism is different from capitalism not only in its approach to economics but in general social issues as well. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, the two greatest names in theoretic communism, maintained that women are meted out unfair treatment simply because they are not accorded the same respect that males are.

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