Gender and Class Relations

Abstract

Which is the more significant in achieving equity: gender or class—or are both merely equally contributing variables (such as racism, transphobia, homophobia, and ableism) in explaining gender subordination in the gender gap stakes? In capitalist society, class is central to the root causes of inequity, if we assume we work to live, not live to work. Power is primarily based on those who own or control work and the normative structures that support that work, as in a competitive market many have only their labor to sell. Because we live in a patriarchal as well as capitalist society, gender often modulates the conditions of labor. Within this capitalist framework, working women (and men) need protective regulation for their well-being and equity in the workplace.