Saturday 24 January 2009

Feminists' view of housework

If we see feminists' point of wies to the housework, most of them say that housework makes sexes be unequal. As housework is unpaid but it is still a work it gives men power over women. marxist feminists argue that housework is a sort of social reproduction and thereby it should be paid. Unpaid housework is a sexual division of labour to productive and reproductive work which allows capitaists make more profit and exploit women's unpaid labour. 

But the problem is how to divide housework between leisure and real work? If we talk for example about childcare it can't be considered only as a work because one of the women's instincts is bearing their children. Since market doesn't have a detailed criterion to distinguish work from non work, it is impossible to calculate how much women should be paid for their housework and thereby there will be still unequality.

One of the solution that had been done was giving all the housework to specialists, such as nurses, maids and so on and pay wages them. Others argued that as people, mostly women, spend a lot of time by taking care after children and old people all the time they spend on it must be compensated.

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