ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses how Marxist-Feminist and neoclassical perspectives have framed the issue of why women work. It presents a summary critique of the theoretical literature. The analysis focuses on the neoclassical perspective as represented by Gary Becker and debates within the Marxist-Feminist perspective, although related views from functional sociology and patriarchal perspectives will be included. In this explanation for the rising labor force participation of married women, we see the fundamental weakness of this particular distributional model. The substitution effect predominates only if materialism is more important than time. In fact, anthropological studies have found that patriarchy is deeply embedded in virtually all societies. Functional sociology is important, therefore, to develop the relationship between economics and patriarchal gender-creating processes within capitalism. The chapter motivates women to sell their labor, as even in prosperous times women may seek such employment because of their preferences for capitalist over feudal exploitation.
