Diotima: The Marist Undergraduate Philosophy Journal
from the patriarchal nuclear family. Firestone sees the division of labor in
reproduction as well as in the actual economic system, and she claims that this is
the root of the patriarchy, class exploitation, racism, imperialism, and
environmental disparities. 13 I argue that the elimination of the nuclear family from
American society would de-facto dismantle the capitalist system because there
would no longer be a labor force to exploit now that human activities like sex and
marriage are no longer centered around the goal of reproduction. This supports my
claim that sexism and gender inequality are intrinsic qualities of the capitalist
system that cannot be eradicated from society via neoliberal and cosmopolitan
reforms because the oppression of women is a crucial element in the reproduction of
the proletarian class, and thus also the reproduction of the capitalist system. She
justifies this claim by maintaining that the historical origin of women’s oppression
is the result of uncontrolled pregnancies undergone by fertile women before effective
contraceptive products became widely accessible because this forces women to
become engulfed in an ongoing cycle of pregnancy, childbirth, and nursing
children. 14 This causes women to become dependent on men to provide basic
necessities such as shelter and water and, therefore, become excluded from other
social functions.
Firestone’s assessment of the nuclear family follows the Marxist framework ,
since Marx himself stressed that the nuclear family is a crucial component in the
r eproduction of capitalism. To add to Firestone’s account, I argue that the nuclear
family is both an ideological and material expression of class relations. It functions
as an ideal designed by the bourgeoisie that seeks to control the members of the
family itself (cis-gendered, monogamous, heterosexual couple with children), as well
as those that do not embody the structure of the nuclear family and what it
represents. The members of the nuclear family themselves are subjected to
compulsory heterosexuality, which attempts to deter any members of the family
13 Shulamith Firestone, The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution, (London: Verso Books, 2015), 50. 14 Firestone, The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution, 50.
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Volume VI (2023)
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