The Injustices of Capitalism

The simple definition of capitalism given by the dictionary is “an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state” (dictionary.com). This definition is accurate, but there are many other factors that go along with a capitalist society that are passed off as inherent norms, never to be questioned. Capitalism is the basis of the world economy and because of this, many people can’t imagine another way to organize economics and society. However, there are several direct consequences of capitalism that must be considered. The social and economic system of capitalism directly oppresses people of color, women, and the lower class through institutional racism, sexism, and classism.

Capitalism was born from racist violence, and perpetuates racism today (Fraser 2019). The beginning of America’s capitalist economy was built off of slave labor. America could never have flourished economically as it did without the forced, unpaid labor of millions of Africans. Slavery produced the cotton that served as the base for modern capitalism, and from there, the slave system expanded, entrenching American productivity in a racialized labor system inherently built off of inequality (Williams & Brogan 1964). The labor system of slavery is somewhat reflected in the current system of labor relations. 74.4% of fortune 500 CEOs are White men, just as nearly all slaveholders were White men (Zweigenhaft 2013). People of color tend to hold service occupations subject to more variable hours and greater job turnover, and on top of that, African American men who work full time only earn 74% of what their White counterparts earn (Simms & Kijakazi 2017). So, though slavery is illegal, Black people are still being punished and treated unfairly on account of their race, just like before the passage of the thirteenth amendment. This inequality is in no way justified. Black people were not enslaved because they were inferior to White people, and Black people do not continue to face injustice because they are inferior to White people. Slavery was not born of racism: rather racism was the consequence of slavery (Williams & Brogan 1964).

Along with racial inequality, capitalism was built upon gender inequality. After the Industrial Revolution, men went to factories to work and women stayed at home to care for the children, and this is the expectation that has continued, leaving no room for women or men to break out of their narrow roles. Men are free to have a career but not to stay home with their children while women must have no ambition outside of homemaking. In this way, capitalism reinforces gender roles and rules for who can do and be what. However, gender inequality did not start with the Industrial Revolution. Women have always been seen as inferior to men in Western culture, and this is apparent in the document that serves as the basis of laws and rights in America. Women and their voices were completely excluded from the framing of the Constitution as it was written solely by bourgeois White men (Galindo 2013). The language of the Constitution is also indicative of its writers, with phrases like “All men are created equal” being particularly transparent as to who made the rules for the country and for whom they were made. Although, as mothers do not contribute to the acquisition of capital directly, they do provide a service vital to capitalism; they create more workers that feed into the capitalist machine. Though her role is undervalued by capitalist society, woman’s contribution is arguably the most important one. As women are not seen as workers, but as instruments of production, their reproductive systems have been appropriated as another cog in the capitalist machine (Heilbroner 2000).

Not just women and Black men, but those of the lower economic class suffer as a result of capitalism as well. Capitalism is organized so that the bourgeoisie retain their wealth and social power, and the proletariat incessantly work to survive, all the while building the bourgeoisie’s wealth. Workers get paid only for their “true value”, the amount of money needed in order to exist, even if their labor exceeds that value, which the capitalist system makes sure it does. This unpaid work, the “surplus value” of the worker’s labor, is gained by the employer and kept as capital. Essentially, workers are paid only as much as they need to survive while the capitalists profit off of their exploitation, maintaining the low status of the worker and increasing the wealth of the employer (Heilbroner 2000). The people’s labor is exploited for the economic gain of the bourgeoisie in a system designed to maintain and exacerbate the class hierarchy and unequal distribution of wealth. In this way, the labor of the lower class, and therefore the lower class itself, is undervalued and underpaid, their toiling under the capitalist regime furthering their own subjugation while directly benefiting their oppressors.

The number of magnates of capital is constantly diminishing while the mass of exploited workers grows; capitalism’s benefiters dwindling while its victims multiply (Heilbroner 2000). As women, Black people, and the poor become more fed up with their situations, they are beginning to realize that things do not have to be this way. With unemployment rates, the cost of living, and the Earth’s temperature rising, so rise dissent and resistance. The new generation suffering the social, economic, and environmental consequences of baby boomer capitalism will rise up and overthrow the oppressive system, bettering all aspects of life and leaving the world improved for following generations. Society is at the point where the injustices imposed by capitalism are being realized, and something can and must be done about them.

References

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.dictionary.com/

FRASER, N. (2019). FEMINISM FOR THE 99%. Place of publication not identified: VERSO.

Galindo, M. (2013). No se puede descolonizar sin despatriarcalizar: Teoría y propuesta de la despatriarcalización. La Paz, Bolivia: Mujeres Creando.

Heilbroner, R. L. (2000). The worldly philosophers: The lives, times, and ideas of the great economic thinkers (7th ed.). London: Penguin.

Simms, M., & Kijakazi, K. (2017, March 29). Structural racism places the burden of proposed budget cuts on people of color. Retrieved from https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/ structural-racism-places-burden-proposed-budget-cuts-people-color

Williams, E. E., & Brogan, D. W. (1964). Capitalism slavery. London: A. Deutsch.

Zweigenhaft, R. L. (2013, December). Power in America. Retrieved from https:// whorulesamerica.ucsc.edu/power/diversity_among_ceos.html

How Do I React When My Friend Tells Me He’s Anti-Feminist?

This is a problem I faced a few weeks ago when I was having a conversation with a friend about relationships between men and women. We didn’t know each other very well at that point and we had only hung out a handful of times but he began to share some opinions that concerned me. The ideas he was expressing were sexist and upholding gender roles. As a Women’s Studies major I didn’t love that. So I pressed him further to deduce if these were actually his opinions or just what he had been taught and never reconsidered. He made it clear that he actually does believe that men are inherently superior to women. So that’s cool.

I really wanted him to not actually be a sexist so I wanted to make very sure that I was not jumping to conclusions based on what he was saying. I asked him how he feels about feminism and he felt negatively about it. I know the stereotype so I understood the reaction and explained that feminism is often misunderstood as being anti-men or working toward domination of men by women, but it is actually about ending the oppression of all groups; not just women, and about securing equality for everyone. With that said, I clarified, asking him if he is just not an avid supporter of feminism or if he is against it. As it turns out, he is against it.

I was taken aback and didn’t know how to proceed. He said that we should just agree to disagree, and I nodded my head in the interest of ending the conversation. As I continued to consider it, though, I realized that I cannot agree to disagree with him on this. I cannot validate his opinion that I am inferior to him because of my sex by agreeing to disagree. I will not consent to my own oppression by accepting his subjugation of me.

So, I decided not to be friends with him anymore. Knowing that he sees me as inferior to him makes me feel unsafe and disrespected, and I try to avoid people who make me feel that way. My problem with him is not just that he believes I should be oppressed because I am a woman, but also that he remains willfully ignorant of the experiences of others and vehemently averse to reconsidering his own beliefs. That kind of person is not growing and does not add to my growth, and I choose not to engage with those who are intellectually stagnant.

“You’re So Cute When You’re Angry”

Most women have probably heard this phrase at one point or another, probably from a man. An ex-boyfriend used to always say this whenever I would get mad at him, and it would just infuriate me further, only adding to his glee. I couldn’t express exactly why it irritated me so much (being cute is good as a woman, right?) but I just found the words while reading Marilyn Frye’s The Politics of Reality. She discusses the oppression that women face, and explains that although men can be negatively affected by the oppression of women (sexism) in ways such as not being allowed to express emotions apart from anger, and dealing with pressure to be tough and strong, men are not oppressed. She elucidates that although these are legitimately difficult and damaging regulations placed on men, they are in place because of the oppression placed on women, and still serve to perpetuate male domination.

This may be hard to understand, but a point that Frye made that really helped me get it is that although men and women both have harmful expectations and regulations placed on them, men are rewarded for following them, while women are stuck in a double-bind. Men have a way of winning, which is following the social expectations of the male gender: be emotionless (except for anger), be dominant over women and other men, make money, etc., we all know what a “real man” looks like. There are systems of oppression that affect certain groups of men that make it more difficult for them to attain the gold medal of masculinity, but sexism is not one of them. While the expectations of masculinity are no doubt very difficult to deal with and a huge cause of societal problems, there is a way for a man to Be A Man and be rewarded with esteem by society at large. Women, on the other hand, can never win. If we have sex we’re a whore, but if we refrain, we are frigid. If a woman decides not to work, and to stay home and raise children instead, she is judged for rejecting the work of feminism, being lazy, and not living up to her potential (feminism exists to give women the opportunity and right to decide whatever they want for themselves, including staying home and raising children). If a woman decides to go to work and leave her children with a babysitter she is scorned for being a bad mother or not loving her children.

There is one way for women to be approved of by society, and that is to have a friendly, sunny disposition. Speaking as a woman with Chronic Bitch Face I can tell you with some authority that unfriendly women are perceived as mean, rude, angry, and bitchy. Though being Miss Bubblegum Sunshine gains us societal approval it also removes our agency. Being sweet and gentle, as Frye says, signals our “docility and our acquiescence in our situation”. We contribute to our own subjugation by making ourselves smaller, easier to deal with, and subservient. Now, I am not to be misunderstood as saying that women should never smile or be friendly. I am simply advocating that women examine when and why they smile or are friendly when they don’t feel happy. Personally, I know I smile when I am near large men and feel intimidated, or when I do something that I think may have irritated the other person. In these situations I am using my smile in the same way that a dog uses rolling over on his back; expressing submission and asking the other not to attack me. That may sound dramatic but I think it is true for many women, whether they consciously realize it or not. Regardless, women’s behavior is only societally approved of if it directly reinforces their subjugation.

Frye says “being male is not a factor which would make [one’s] anger impotent – quite the opposite”. Men are expected to be angry, and are rewarded with the deference of others for it. This is because anger is an emotion of power. It is a powerful emotion, but men are not allowed to feel or express powerful emotions other than anger, only emotions of power; emotions that can assert power and dominance over others. Powerful emotions are for “hysterical” women who should be disregarded as being dramatic, or on their period. I realized while reading Frye’s work that women’s anger is seen as laughable and “so cute” because women are not seen as capable of possessing or wielding power in the way that angry men are. It’s adorable that a woman would try to imitate a man’s strength because it’s like a toddler flexing their little chubby arms and claiming they can beat their dad at wrestling. A woman’s anger is met by male laughter because it is laughable that a woman could have the same authority or potency as a man.

So, with that I realized that my ex, by disregarding my anger, was perpetuating sexism and disrespecting me and my feelings entirely on the basis of my gender. My female anger could never harm him and his male insouciance. A man would never call another man “cute” for expressing anger. If they did, it would only be offensive because it would be likening the man to a woman, the highest insult of all.

Baby’s First Blog Post

Writing this feels like I am standing at a podium wearing a blind fold in front of an empty room.

As you can see I have decided to start writing a blog. If you don’t know me from real life, allow me to give you some information about myself. My name is Grace and I am an undergraduate at the University of Washington working toward a double major in Psychology and GWSS (Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies). I love to pet dogs, watch movies, read books, embroider (check out @grandmother.at.heart on instagram), and talk to people. My favorite movie is When Harry Met Sally – my bio on Tinder was “waiter, there is too much pepper on my paprikash” and no one got it. My favorite books of all time are of course the Harry Potter series but another one that has stuck with me is The Book Thief. I like books and movies but people are my main interest if you didn’t gather that from my decided majors. My favorite thing to think about and learn about people is why they are the way they are. I like to consider small-scale, personal factors such as biological predisposition (nature) and the way one was raised (nurture), as well as over-arching societal influences such as gender roles and racism.

This blog will probably consist of Psychology and GWSS topics quite a bit since they are what I am thinking about most, but I plan to also discuss college life, being a woman in Western capitalistic society, being single in the city, and what feminism means to me. If you’re easily spooked by the f-word, don’t worry; this isn’t a radical feminist page and I won’t yell at you. But I may challenge cultural norms and say some things that may furrow some brows.

I don’t really know how to write a blog but I have a lot of thoughts and feelings that I like to share, and while my mother is a gracious and loving woman I know she doesn’t always want to hear it.

Image result for i just have a lot of feelings

So, I’ll share my thoughts and feelings with you all, and I hope you enjoy reading about them.

Love, Grace

P.S. my header image is street art that says “samsonovich” on it. That’s as much credit as I’ve been able to find.