The Radical Feminist view on 'work as your passion' in the capitalist system.
Submitted June 12, 2020, 5:07 a.m. by judgemycomposureI find that liberal feminism and power feminism do tend to go a little hand-in-hand on women getting to the top in companies and then "change will happen".
Meanwhile the problem with the workplace is that there's a different set of rules for women as there are for men, more obstacles for women (visible or invisible), and as a result more chance for stress, burnout. And no workplace advice book ever writes about this; the office politics are always written about as though sexual harassment, gang bullying, or exclusion is simply never going to happen, or that, if it does, a simple chat with a manager or an assertive word or two with the offenders will sort it all out.
It feels like women go into the workplace with no guidebooks and no one to help if things go awry (unless they're rich enough to go through a court case).
Would you say working 60+ hours every week of one's life navigating an obstacle course that's made much harder for you because of your sex is a waste of life, or is it a ballsy power move that moves the women's cause forward?
It's a waste of life, to me. But I am a "jack-of-all-trades" type and don't find fulfillment in focusing that much on any one thing. I think people burn out going all in to one thing and putting that many hours into it (and more), but there is a subset of people who find it meaningful.
I can see that, in the example of someone in a science field, it would be necessary to make such a commitment and would be beneficial to women as a whole, pioneering more women in that field. Not all radical feminists are necessarily Marxists, and I think many try to find a balance between having to work for pure survival, working in ways that help women, but also trying not to contribute to some sort of ultimate slavery-type capitalism.
I think there are more radfems who would rather see women put forth effort into themselves and their careers than family or relationships. Though we are practical and simply want wages to be fair and rewarding, with equal household responsibilities and for male partners to take part in child-rearing, and jobs to respect the home life..which would likely result in more people not working as their passion unless they wanted to, yet it would not be necessary.
I did it for 15 years. I made some money but sacrificed my health and well being.
20 years ago I left the corporate world and opened my own business in a field I love. It's my passion. Sadly, it is nowhere near as lucrative as what I used to do. Still, I consider myself successful in many ways. I am now healthy and for the most part content. I've built a world where I have minimal interaction with men.
We tend to think of success in a way that is defined by men and the patriarchy. That somehow, as you stated, if we get to the top we can change things. However, is achieving "success" within a system that is inherently sick, sociopathic and misogynistic true success? Even if we get to a position where we can change some things we are only slightly altering a system that is over all detrimental to women. It would be too little and we would be playing their game.
IMO the only real way forward for women is some kind of separatism. Wielding money and power in a system designed to subjugate and abuse women makes you part of the problem, because in order to get there you have to play their game. Who can even count the number of people you've harmed directly and indirectly in order to get there?
Oh my gosh great response. I work in a female dominated field and every damn time a women moves up to management it seems that they turn on the women below them, throw them under the bus and pander unashamedly to usually male upper management. My current manager tries to support us but her hands are tied by upper management, they always want "a male perspective added", so men with less experience are given special projects and recognition to promote our department.
Thank you for sharing this. It’s important women realize that their health and mental wellness should come first.
Depends on the person. A lot of people enjoy hard work. A lot of people find work necessary for their mental health. I'm currently getting replies on one of my comments that people can't get out of bed because lockdown has hit them so hard. You see this across communities with high unemployment.
I think it's a mistake to think because the left critiques the capitalist system that work itself is bad. Salaried work existed long before capitalism. Marx was very pro work and a workaholic himself, it was rather the change in work from agriculture (which is actually physically harder and more intensive) to industry which worried him. The old left was also very pro work, campaigning for both more well paid jobs and tougher tests for benefits at the same time. Rather some jobs are better for people than others. Jobs where you have a connection to both the ownership and the end product are often more fulfilling than ones where you just go in and do your task. However I've also found people with a lot going on in their lives often prefer those dull jobs with minimal responsibilities.
Agrarian cultures worked less hours overall. Biggest problem back then was food security and obviously health!
Read somewhere that long hours is now replacing education as a way of social categorising. As women have achieved more in education, men need to find their social capital elsewhere.
I think our focus should be in pointing out the ridiculousness of long hours culture (it's not even efficient) and calling for a better working culture for men and women.
Yes! “Long hour culture” is terrible for individual, companies and society.
Trying to beat men at the shitty system they created is not how women gain power.
The workforce is just another patriarchal control system. It was never intended to be productive or efficient. The goal was never to make profit first. It was made to keep people in a military-like work environment, stressed, overworked, and burned out so that we can't overthrow. Women get especially nasty treatment therein. There is no "taking down the system from the inside"...unless one intends to go down with it. And as far as taking over rulership of that system...well, that just sounds like shit.
Lean in! So we can punch you in the face again!