Falling under the category of Marxist Feminism, the purpose of my study is to examine the relationship between capitalism and reproduction. In Marxist theory, workers are ruled by the objects that they produce; as the value of his produce goes up, the value of the worker invariably goes down. Marx refers to this relationship as “object-bondage,” where the objects of the worker’s production enslave him within a capitalistic system. I believe a similar type of bondage is at work in regards to reproduction, a bondage which is also fueled by capitalism. My goal is to figure and plot out the correlation between the two in hopes of understanding how capitalism, as an antagonizing source of oppression, stifles the reproductive rights of women.

I can’t say that I have always been interested in Marxism, but discovering that interest has led to much enrichment and intellectual excitement in my academic career. Not only have Marxist theory taught me new things, but it has corrected many of my old preconceptions. That to me is simply one of the most rewarding feelings of the learning process. While I continued to advance my studies in Marxist theory, I stumbled into the field of Women’s Studies. Whether by luck or chance, I decided to pick up an introductory course to feminism and was just as intrigued with it as I was with Marxism. Knowing that I had a special liking for both of those subject areas, I was delighted when I found a piece by Heidi Hartmann, entitled “The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism,” in which she discusses the necessary union of class and gender politics.

I was set on learning more about this branch of feminism, which embraces Marxist tradition as a guideline in resolving women’s issues. To my dismay however, there were no courses offered that dealt exclusively with this subject matter. Knowing that I would need some help in my studies, I decided to work with a professor that taught my Marxism course, and together we designed an independent study (that I’m taking this current semester) that would allow me to gain the knowledge I desire in this field. It would also provide me with the groundwork that I need for my thesis research.

As I am still exploring Marxist Feminism theories myself, I do not expect my readers to be complete experts of the field. Within my paper, I want to share the exploration and groundwork that I gain from my independent study. Because there are many branches under feminism, the traits of each branch have been defined and interpreted differently by a variety of sources. One of my tasks will be to provide a good, solid definition of Marxist Feminism that will help serve my purpose for my research paper. I will need to make clearer the fuzzy lines that separate Marxist Feminism from other feminism studies, such as Radical Feminism and Materialist Feminism. Basically, I need to make sure that before I start reporting my research, my readers and I are on the same page.

While I need to hash out some basic definitions, I do expect my readers to be familiar with at least the basics of Marxist theory since I will be utilizing it to examine the issue of reproduction. I will be relating heavily to his works, and making connections between Marxism and feminism continuously throughout my paper. I will provide some background information to all the Marxist concepts that I decide to use, however readers who have never dealt with Marx’s theories before might find some concepts hard to grasp. I know I certainly had a hard time struggling over some of Marx’s works when I read them for the first time!

Some of the key questions that I have at this point:

• How does a capitalistic system produce sources that oppress women?
• How does Marxism help refine the fundamental pillars of feminist theory?
• What tenants of Marxist tradition has feminism borrowed in order to further their goals?
• What makes Marxist Feminism different from all the other branches of feminism?
• What is the history of Marxist Feminism’s development?
• What kind of alienation do women face in the work environment when she chooses to reproduce?
• How does denying a woman reproductive rights alienate herself from her own body?
• How does women and reproduction fall under the dominion of capital?