Marxist Feminists

In "Feminist Thought" Tong analyzes Marxism and socialist feminism as a way to explain the oppression of women.  The general idea of Marxist feminism is that oppression of women is best explained by looking at it through a capitalist lens.  Social feminists move beyond relying on class as the sole category for understanding women's subordination to men.  I find myself on the fence with the ideologies of Marx and social feminists.  This is because according to Marx material forces, the production and reproduction of social life are the prime movers of history.  Therefore this clumps domesticated women into a category of not being "prime movers" and contributing nothing to society.  Domesticated women do not receive wages for their work, even when their work for example, raising children, may be one of the most valuable occupations.  Women are preparing the next generation of men and women to be successful, so why that is not considered important?  While under Tong's general reflections, she quotes Margaret Benston who believes in order to bring women into productive workforce without simultaneously socializing the jobs of cooking, cleaning, etc., is to make women's oppressed conditions worse (p. 109).  I agree with her on this statement that in order for women to have full liberation, there work at home needs to be recognized and not swept under the rug.  I also found the analysis of Juliet Mitchell and Alison Jagger to be of interest.   Both women to some degree believe that regardless of Marxism revolution, women would still maintain being oppressed until the minds of men and women change from the idea that women are somehow less valuable than men.  Patriarchy is the biggest factor when it comes to the oppression of women.  I support Jagger's statement that to overthrow patriarchy is the only way women will truly be "full persons"(p. 115).  I am a firm believer that stereotypes against women are constructed by males, and they become ingrained in a society.  Once they are in and used these stereotypes are difficult to get rid of, forcing women to go the extra mile to prove people wrong, that they are worth more than just being domesticated beings.