Feminism and labor
Catchy title, huh?
Just a thought I've been poking around in my head: the feminism of the late 50's occurred in a time of labor shortage and great industrial expansion. (So too did the Civil Rights movement) In other words, a time when industry needed more workers than could be supplied by the male population. As women entered into the labor pool, the Boss class discovered with considerable glee that they could pay them much, much less than they paid men for the same work. As a side benefit, this allowed the bosses to drive down the pay of all workers, especially when the Boomers started entering the labor pool and the shortage turned into a glut. We know that the result of this has been real-wages stagnation (decline, really) for the best part of 40 years. Indeed, wages sunk so low that an average family just about required two paychecks in order to survive. But feminism continued to flourish, because it was to the advantage of the ruling class.
Now, however, the labor pool has grown so large, due to outsourcing, that we cannot even employ all the men in this country. Women are no longer needed as part of the labor pool, no longer have an impact on the money flowing into the pockets of the rich man. And suddenly... the rich men have launched an attack on women and feminism, trying to "take back" all the "advances" that have been made since, say, 1955.
I'm sure it's just coincidence.
-- Mal
