The Traffic in Women: Notes on the “Political Economy” of Sex

by Gayle S. Rubin

In the essay "The Traffic in Women: Notes on the 'Political Economy' of Sex", Rubin discussed the trafficking of women, which she believes results from the "sex/gender system", a phrase she originated, meaning "the set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed sexual needs are satisfied." She takes as a starting point writers who have previously discussed gender and sexual relations as an economic institution (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels) which serves a conventional social function (Claude Lévi-Strauss) and is reproduced in the psychology of children (Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan). She asserts that these writers fail to adequately explain women's subjugation; therefore, Rubin offers a reinterpretation of their ideas. Rubin addresses Marxist thought by identifying women's role within a capitalist society. She argues that the reproduction of labor power depends upon women's housework to transform commodities into sustenance for the worker. A capitalistic system cannot generate surplus without women, yet society does not grant women access to the resulting capital.

Genres: Feminism, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Politics, Sociology, Gender, Essays

55 pages, ebook

About the author

Gayle S. Rubin (born 1949) is a cultural anthropologist best known as an activist and influential theorist of sex and gender politics. She has written on a range of subjects including feminism, sadomasochism, prostitution, pedophilia, pornography and lesbian literature, as well as anthropological studies and histories of sexual subcultures, especially focused in urban contexts.

Gayle S. Rubin is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Women’s Studies, and Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan.

Reviews

[Rocío G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated Rubin's theoretical and conceptual transparency. The genealogy of each of her arguments is always clearly presented and plainly accounted for. She elucidates typically impenetrable (at least for me) authors such as Lévi-Strauss and Lacan in clean, fresh prose. I thought her critique of some versions of marxist feminism, which place the root of female oppression in capitalism, was both astute and illuminating. In general, I found this to be an admirably clear-sighted essay. Rubin expertly borrows concepts psychoanalytic theory, marxist theory and structuralism and elegantly brings them to bear on the genesis of the cultural and historical oppression of women.

[Brendan Holt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly thoughtful and expansive piece of scholarship investigating the origins of gender in a psychological, social, and political context. Rubin effectively explains many of the flaws in an orthodox Marxist view of the divergence between genders, and persuasively argues for the necessity of incorporating sociological and psychological evidence into studies on this phenomenon. I was expecting a harsh critique of Engles, so his treatment was a surprise. I found her criticism of The Origins of Family, Private Property, and the State as fair, and now am of this opinion that Marxists should read this article promptly after reading the former. Rubin leaves the reader with much to ponder, and her imploring call for scholarship that incorporates Marxian political economy methods into the anthropological and social-scientific folds. I hope to heed her call someday, or at least see it heard.

[Bere Tarará · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esperaba que en algún punto del texto se abordara el tema de la trata. Es un aporte útil, pero superado por las circunstancias actuales

[Ravina P · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many real life incidents, so shocking... Women and the economy, women and marriage, women as gifts, women...women...women. This is an eye-opener.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tea

[Hamide · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the sex-gender distinction was significant for its time and important argument to counter biological determinism. Gayle has an overly complicated analysis of Marxism, and in short she argues that it isn't a theory that is enough to explain women's oppression. The evidence to this is - women were oppressed before capitalism. However, she also outlines the social structure of women's oppression that could significantly be molded to fit the needs of Capitalism. The section on Freud was weird.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primera vez que leo a esta autora, y la verdad que al menos esto fue de muy buen agrado, me deja con ganas de seguir leyendo mas de ella. No le doy 5 estrellas solo por el echo de que esperaba que tratara sobre el tema de tráfico de mujeres, pero en si el texto es muy bueno. Es muy clara tratando el tema antropológico, psicoanalítico y sobre Marx relacionado a la mujer, es interesante la crítica que realiza a los autores como Levi-Strauss, Freud y Lacan por ejemplo, y sus postulados. Me gustó como realiza la crítica y no se queda solo en eso sino que también logra identificar que si bien estos autores son hijos de sus tiempos y sus escrituras se refieren a la mujer tal y como se la concebía en esa época, esto se da claramente porque hay un motivo estructural y político detrás. Los escritos donde se habla de la mujer no son solamente casualidad que se diga lo que se dijo, sino que tiene una finalidad, y a día de hoy se sigue escuchando y leyendo a personas que siguen sistemáticamente repitiendo postulados como la "envidia del pene" por poner un ejemplo.
Como persona a la que le interesa muchísimo el psicoanálisis agradezco cruzarme con textos así porque es muy reconfortante leer cosas de este tipo. Me interesa cuando se escriben ciertas críticas donde no se queda solo en eso, sino que buscan otra vuelta más, como bien dice Rubin, no se puede dejar de lado al psicoanálisis y tratar de ocultarlo, sino que se lo debe utilizar justamente para entender porque el psicoanálisis como otras disciplinas siguen reproduciendo muchas veces algunos postulados que ya se deberían de dejar de lado.

[Dustin Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best explications available of the intersection between psychoanalytic theory, Marxist theory, and feminism

[Ceren]

"...feminism must call for a revolution in kinship."

This is an old article, one that, despite its little quirks here and there, still offers tremendous insights to the reader.

Rubin makes the case that Levi-Strauss's studies on kinship systems and Lacanian psychoanalysis are crucial and complementary lenses for understanding the formation of gender hierarchies, and the oppression of women and queers. The former, through its analysis of the taboo on incest and homosexuality, uncovers the processes through which societies "culturalize" sexuality -- i.e., the traffic in women positions women as "gifts" and men as "givers". The process is by no means natural, the variety of 'trafficking rules' in different cultures proves this point. Its persistence, however, points to an oppression beyond the organization of reproductive labor (Marxist analysis of gender oppression). Here, Rubin looks for the root of the persistence of gender hierarchies in the formation of gendered identity -- this is where psychoanalysis comes in. She views psychoanalysis as an attempt to describe the psychological dramas of that oppression. My understanding is that she suggests becoming a woman *is* enduring, and to some extent, accepting the oppression.

Like most feminists, I am inclined to steer away from psychoanalysis due to its dense jargon and problematic history, yet, Rubin made me see its value in a new light.

[Roberto Yoed · Rating 1 out of 5]

Postmodernism at its finest.

Rubin tries to critique Freud, Levi-Strauss and Marx through a radical gender optic. She says that these three authors ignored the female reality (of Freud I can understand, but of the other two it is a plain lie).

Her political proposal is not class struggle, but a gender struggle where we fight against the “man” and “woman” etiquettes.

As a dialectical materialist I can’t deny the biological reality we are immersed. A genderless world is impossible (at least right now), and, in my humble opinion, socialist-communist movements already fight for all the oppressed. Negating the proletarian reality is reactionary and divides the already alienated masses. I cannot support this idealistic vision. Of course I despise the exploitation of women and all minorities, but I think the political strength still resides in the potential of proletarians and peasants against capital (men and women that produce surplus value in the capitalist mode of production).

I cannot see a tactical point nor a relevant commentary in this essay.

[Anahí Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

"El sueño que me parece más atractivo es el de una sociedad andrógina y sin género (aunque no sin sexo), en que la anatomía sexual no tenga ninguna importancia para lo que uno es, lo que hace y con quién hace el amor" dijo y me conquistó 🧡

[Isa Nonyma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le meilleur travail écrit de synthèse d'une critique féministe de Marx, Engels,Freud,Lacan et Lévi-Strauss, critique qui existe depuis les années 60.

[Rosella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un poco complicado de leer, madre miaaaa. Aún así, muy buenos argumentos y fuentes.

[Ellie White · Rating 4 out of 5]

def changes my views on marxism! love this essay

[nomi]

read for uni

[mo (sie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

quite a lot of psychoanalysis for my taste, but very interesting insight

[actsofsurvival · Rating 5 out of 5]

an interesting look at the origins of heteronormativity and the use of sexual distinguification in order to mark some parts of the population as gifts and other members as gifters

[H3SSETRON 3000 · Rating 3 out of 5]

hay una parte que sentí que era apología al incesto y me incomodó. más allá de eso muy interesante, aunque haya partes de lacan que no entiendo

[Fernanda Paixão · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un aporte fundamental para entender la opresión sexual y de género en las sociedades. Rubin lo hace especialmente a partir de la lectura antropológica sobre los sistemas de parentesco, el falo (del psicoanálisis) y la mujer como objeto de intercambio. De todos modos, sentí falta de una mayor profundidad y ejemplos en las sociedades occidentales, una vez que los ejemplos dados en el texto, muy centrados en sociedades africanas e indígenas, y sus respectivos sistemas de matrimonio e intercambio, parecen recurrir a una cierta exotización. También sentí falta de un mayor desarrollo de su conclusión; por ejemplo, propuesta por una sociedad sin géneros.