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Australian women earn nearly $30,000 less than men per year. They perform 8 hours more housework per week. A study showed 80% of women struggle with low self-esteem. The increase in the cost of living prevents women from leaving abusive relationships, worsened by a lack of public housing and social spending. For all the misery this causes, it produces wealth for the parasites in society. The unequal status and oppression of women today is rooted in capitalism – a system that relies on oppression to maintain the power and profits of the rich. Behind everyday sexism – harassment, abuse, misogynistic behaviour – is a capitalistic society perpetuating it at work, at home, and on every billboard and in every shopping centre. You cannot have capitalism without sexism.
The pay gap has obvious benefits to capitalists who are always seeking to maximise profits. Each woman working in Australia receives $1 million less than men throughout their career. That’s $1 million more profits for the rich PER WOMAN, who make up 50% of the workforce. Sexist ideas that undervalue women’s work and undermine women’s confidence to fight back are therefore a vital ideological tool of ruling classes around the world.
The unpaid labor women perform in the home is essential for capitalism to function. Raising the next generation of workers and ensuring all members of the family are fed and fit to work is central to capitalism’s ability to produce profit. The burden of this work is placed upon individual family units – instead of capitalists and the state – saving $650 billion per year in labor costs in Australia. That’s the equivalent of 50% of Australia’s GDP. As a consequence of being lower paid, women drop out of the workforce to care for children and take on the majority of this burden. This reinforces misogynistic ideas about women being naturally caring and belonging in the home.
The $750 billion beauty industry is a grim expression of capitalism thriving off the subjugation of women. The industry is built on the low self-esteem of women and fueled by the sexist idea that women’s main value is in their appearance. The industry convinces women to obsess over an ever-growing list of ‘flaws’, draining enormous amounts of time and energy. The relentless advertisements for beauty and dieting products fuels eating disorders that have increased 6-fold in Australia since the 1990’s. Women’s preoccupation with beauty is what feminist Naomi Wolf describes as a ‘political sedative’. How can women fight back when they’re not confident enough to?
This inequality women face is vital context to understanding the rise of overt misogyny. In a system where women are devalued at work and subordinated in the home, there is always a basis for bigoted ideas about women to emerge. It should be no surprise then that those with the most bigoted views on women are also the most pro-capitalist. Andrew Tate, for example, is known for his extreme misogyny and obsession with money. Trump, a rapist billionaire, is obsessed with ‘family values’ and gender. In the first week of his presidential term, he cut all funding to abortion services and gave massive tax cuts to the rich. Support for these bigoted ideas are growing amongst young Australian men. In October 2024 a poll found 43% of Australian men under 30 would vote for Trump.
If sexism will always exist under capitalism, we need socialist politics that strive to smash that system and ALL the oppression that props it up. Socialists have always fought for the liberation of women. In 1910, socialist Clara Zetkin proposed International Women’s Day to the International Socialist Women’s conference, and over a hundred years later, the 8th of March is still marked with global protests demanding equality for women. The history of the socialist movement is a history of fighting for equal pay, abortion rights and an end to inequality.
Putting these politics into practice and seriously fighting oppression means getting organised. The far-right and capitalism itself are both highly organised. Unless you’re a billionaire and have access to the presidential cabinet, there isn’t much you can achieve as an individual. If you want to fight sexism and/or capitalism, you need to take socialist politics seriously.
Written by Jessica Abbo
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