Patriarchy was a system built to ensure the provision of free care. Capitalism ensured care was cheap or free.
Her investigation into the care system is not likely to get off to all that good a start with those assumptions.
Just to clear it up if Laurie Penny or such come reading. The human economic unit is the household. The aim is to have and raise enough children in order to gain grandchildren. That’s just how that nature thing works, this is the aim and point of life and the structures within which we live it.
We are a sexually dimorphic species. Pre- the invention of machinery our power source was human muscle, something the male has in greater abundance. Thus the male goes out of the household to bring in income – which can be anything from a hunk of mammoth to a pay packet – because that’s the obvious division and specialisation of labour within a household. So, that’s patriarchy explained.
The price or cost of care was higher or lower before capitalism? Quite, so that form of asset ownership has nothing to do with it either.
Sigh.
A social revolution in the role of women was left half-finished in the 1980s when my generation of feminists set our sights on the workplace, and men failed to step up in sufficient numbers to take on a share of care.
Maybe these plans might work better with another species?
When I have a womb and lactating breasts, I’ll do “my share” of the care.
> another species
Likely to be the “New Soviet Man” they keep trying to invent.
Anon,
The gravatar’s a bit a of giveaway 😉
Another problem with every generation is how to quell the rampant fraternisation with the enemy that goes on.
A social revolution in the role of women was left half-finished in the 1980s when my generation of feminists set our sights on the safe, cushy, air-conditioned workplaces, forsaking the dangerous, dirty, antisocial hours work and men failed to step up in sufficient numbers to take on a share of care.
Fixed
Doh! Didn’t realise my smartypants phone would do that. Autofilling and giving away my secret identity. 😉
On my PC it autofills with my real name —^
Some time ago, it was pointed out to me that “Madeleine Bunting” is in fact an anagram of “bungle in dementia.”
Genetic modification to produce a ‘house husband’ to take care of all those annoying caring problems?
Though I think the lady is simply complaining that all those feeble men are simply incapable of being so rich that they can provide the little woman with all the servants she wants.
Patriarchy was a system built to ensure the provision of free care. Capitalism ensured care was cheap or free.
This is not *free*. There is a basic economic concept – when the wife does not work, the family loses her salary. Her labour is not free. It comes at a cost and, indeed, most people prefer the cash to the kinder these days
“… when my generation of feminists set our sights on the workplace, and
menfailed to convince the men in our lives to step up in sufficient numbers …”FTFY
@ dcardno
What makes you assume there were any men in their lives?
@ Chernyy_Drakon
+1
‘men failed to step up’
Women, dependent on men. Feminism needs bicycles to succeed.