ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author utilizes the Marxist epistemology to develop a specifically feminist historical materialism—a methodology that analyzes all dimensions of social life in terms of the development of those material goods necessary to sustain human existence. In her essay "Reproducing Marxist Man," O'Brien faults traditional Marxists for maintaining that because men's work is the only kind of work that counts as "real," the only crucial human struggle is class struggle between the workers and the capitalists. Heidi Hartmann takes a different tack than O'Brien in her contribution. Heidi focuses not so much on women's reproductive work as on the kind of work women do at home for no wages. Clearly, Marxist feminist thought represents an advance over traditional Marxist thought in that it shows how gender and class struggle are interrelated. Yet, in its focus on the evils of gender and class oppression, it largely overlooks the evils of race oppression or oppression on account of one's sexual orientation.
