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Problems of Women’s Liberation
Six articles explore the social and economic roots of women's oppression from prehistoric society to modern capitalism and point the road forward to emancipation. Preface by Mary-Alice Waters. Now with index and enlarged type. Also available Farsi, Greek
154 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
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About the author
Evelyn Reed
159 books35 followersEvelyn Reed (1905–1979) was an American communist and women’s rights activist.
In January 1940, she traveled to Mexico to see the exiled Russian Revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia Sedova. There, at the house of Trotsky in Coyoacán, Reed met the American Trotskyist leader James P. Cannon, leader of the Socialist Workers Party (United States). Reed joined in the same year, and remained a leading party member until her death.
An active participant in the Women's liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Reed was a founding member of the Women’s National Abortion Action Coalition in 1971. During these years she spoke and debated on women’s rights in cities throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland, the United Kingdom and France.
Inspired by the works on women and the family by Friedrich Engels and Alexandra Kollontai, Reed is the author of many books on Marxist feminism and the origin of the oppression of women and the fight for their emancipation. Some of the most notable works by Reed are: Problems of Women’s Liberation, Woman’s Evolution: From Matriarchal Clan to Patriarchal Family, Is Biology Woman’s Destiny?, and Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women (with Joseph Hansen and Mary-Alice Waters.)
She was nominated as a candidate for President of the United States for the Socialist Workers Party in the United States presidential election, 1972. On the ballot in only three states (Indiana, New York, and Wisconsin), Reed received a total of 13,878 votes. The main candidate for the Party was Linda Jenness, who received 37,423 votes.
"The woman question can only be resolved through the lineup of working men and women against the ruling men and women. This means that the interests of the workers as a class are identical; and not the interests of all women as a sex. Ruling-class women have exactly the same interest in upholding and perpetuating capitalist society as their men have. The bourgeois feminists fought, among other things, for the right of women as well as men to hold property in their own name. They won this right. Today, plutocratic women hold fabulous wealth in their own names. They are completely in alliance with the plutocratic men to perpetuate the capitalist system. They are not in alliance with the working women, whose needs can only be served through the abolition of capitalism. Thus, the emancipation of working women will not be achieved in alliance with women of the enemy class, but just the opposite; in a struggle against them as part and parcel of the whole class struggle."
- Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women
In January 1940, she traveled to Mexico to see the exiled Russian Revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia Sedova. There, at the house of Trotsky in Coyoacán, Reed met the American Trotskyist leader James P. Cannon, leader of the Socialist Workers Party (United States). Reed joined in the same year, and remained a leading party member until her death.
An active participant in the Women's liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Reed was a founding member of the Women’s National Abortion Action Coalition in 1971. During these years she spoke and debated on women’s rights in cities throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland, the United Kingdom and France.
Inspired by the works on women and the family by Friedrich Engels and Alexandra Kollontai, Reed is the author of many books on Marxist feminism and the origin of the oppression of women and the fight for their emancipation. Some of the most notable works by Reed are: Problems of Women’s Liberation, Woman’s Evolution: From Matriarchal Clan to Patriarchal Family, Is Biology Woman’s Destiny?, and Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women (with Joseph Hansen and Mary-Alice Waters.)
She was nominated as a candidate for President of the United States for the Socialist Workers Party in the United States presidential election, 1972. On the ballot in only three states (Indiana, New York, and Wisconsin), Reed received a total of 13,878 votes. The main candidate for the Party was Linda Jenness, who received 37,423 votes.
"The woman question can only be resolved through the lineup of working men and women against the ruling men and women. This means that the interests of the workers as a class are identical; and not the interests of all women as a sex. Ruling-class women have exactly the same interest in upholding and perpetuating capitalist society as their men have. The bourgeois feminists fought, among other things, for the right of women as well as men to hold property in their own name. They won this right. Today, plutocratic women hold fabulous wealth in their own names. They are completely in alliance with the plutocratic men to perpetuate the capitalist system. They are not in alliance with the working women, whose needs can only be served through the abolition of capitalism. Thus, the emancipation of working women will not be achieved in alliance with women of the enemy class, but just the opposite; in a struggle against them as part and parcel of the whole class struggle."
- Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 17, 2021
کتاب ساده و روان و کمحجم است. ایولین رید با دست گذاشتن بر روی چند باور نادرست، بررسی کرده که این باورها از چه زمانی و چطور شکل گرفتهاند. در دورههای شکارگری، زنها هم به اندازه مردها دست به شکار میزدند. شاید تفاوت فقط در ابعاد شکار بود. او میگوید زنها هرگز توی خانه نمیماندند تا مردها بروند شکار و غذای موردنیازشان را تأمین کنند. زنان بی آنکه درک مشخصی از جنسیت به شکل امروزی وجود داشته باشد، کار میکردند. تمام صنایعی که پایههایش به دست زنان گذاشته شده را هم بررسی کرده. در دو فصل جدا، ایولین رید اشارههایی داشته که به دو کتاب کالیبان و ساحره: زنان، بدن و انباشت بدوی و همچنین رازوری زنانه مربوط است. برای من که آن دو کتاب را خوانده بودم، درک آن فصلها راحتتر بود.
اما مهمترین نکتهای که نویسنده بر آن تأکید کرده این است که زنان هرگز در مقابل مردان نایستادهاند. زنان، مردان را دشمن خود نمیدانند. آنچه مزاحم و مانع است سیستمی است که زن و مرد را به این شکل تعریف کرده و این سیستم است که باید اصلاح شود.
اما مهمترین نکتهای که نویسنده بر آن تأکید کرده این است که زنان هرگز در مقابل مردان نایستادهاند. زنان، مردان را دشمن خود نمیدانند. آنچه مزاحم و مانع است سیستمی است که زن و مرد را به این شکل تعریف کرده و این سیستم است که باید اصلاح شود.
February 24, 2019
i have a serious problem with marxists or other leftists who position whites as default but then insist that women (who are all white never nonwhite) must be prioritized. do black women not exist? they were organizing alongside white women way back when this book was written, getting tons of criticism and misogynist hatred from supposedly 'progressive' black men in the civil rights movement who had told black women to wait their turn. and then when one reads of white feminist literature from this time period, you get the impression that black women are also being told to wait their turn by the white feminists as well. (they were, explicitly, told this according to women like audre lorde.) so let me just start off by saying that this is without a doubt my biggest problem with this book and others like it by other white women, liberal or marxist. (have we learned since then? no.)
i am being extremely critical for two reasons: a marxist has no excuse for denying the voiceless a voice in her analysis, and also i quite like this book (and evelyn reed in general).
this book is quite a nice primer to some ideas you might hear from reactionaries or liberals about womens liberation, about how women are either biologically perfect or biologically inferior (they are neither, they just are, and also this opens the door to destroying the concept of biology as the be-all to defining a woman), about whether or not working class women must side with bourgeois women for being women or with working class men for being working class (class, always), about the beauty industry (currently women are coerced into 'looking beautiful' in order to 'sell themselves' on the 'marriage market' so maybe lets not defend fucking loreal), about the family unit itself as an institution of womens oppression (historically only the landed classes could even be married, and ones family included slaves, so 'family' has always been a matter of property relations, not sentimentality).
in other words, this book has a lot of very, very good content and it is an excellent starter to marxist feminism. i recommend this to any beginner looking for something short and simple to understand.
i am being extremely critical for two reasons: a marxist has no excuse for denying the voiceless a voice in her analysis, and also i quite like this book (and evelyn reed in general).
this book is quite a nice primer to some ideas you might hear from reactionaries or liberals about womens liberation, about how women are either biologically perfect or biologically inferior (they are neither, they just are, and also this opens the door to destroying the concept of biology as the be-all to defining a woman), about whether or not working class women must side with bourgeois women for being women or with working class men for being working class (class, always), about the beauty industry (currently women are coerced into 'looking beautiful' in order to 'sell themselves' on the 'marriage market' so maybe lets not defend fucking loreal), about the family unit itself as an institution of womens oppression (historically only the landed classes could even be married, and ones family included slaves, so 'family' has always been a matter of property relations, not sentimentality).
in other words, this book has a lot of very, very good content and it is an excellent starter to marxist feminism. i recommend this to any beginner looking for something short and simple to understand.
November 26, 2021
Contentissima di aver letto uno dei testi base del femminismo marxista.
"La liberazione della donna" edito in Italia da Meltemi è un compendio dei saggi più significativi di Evelyn Reed, elaborati nel ventennio compreso tra gli anni cinquanta e settanta.
Ho ritrovato tantissime delle idee che stanno alla base del mio femminismo e che, grazie a questa lettura, sono senz'altro più solide e meglio argomentate.
Questa raccolta, a partire dall'analisi della mistica della femminilità di Betty Friedan, analizza il modo in cui la storia, la biologia, la psicologia, l'antropologia e le scienze in generale siano state distorte al fine di sostenere l'inferiorità naturale della donna e la conseguenza supremazia dell'uomo.
In una descrizione chiarificatrice sul passaggio dal comunismo primitivo matriarcale alla società di classe patriarcale, Reed sfata tutti i miti che ci accompagnano da secoli.
L'unico appunto che ho da fare è che ho trovato la selezione dei saggi un po' ripetitiva. La cosa non mi ha particolarmente infastidita perché mi ha permesso di fissare meglio alcuni dei concetti basilari, ma mi rendo conto possa risultare alquanto ridondante ad altr*.
Cinque stelle piene piene e meritatissime!
"La liberazione della donna" edito in Italia da Meltemi è un compendio dei saggi più significativi di Evelyn Reed, elaborati nel ventennio compreso tra gli anni cinquanta e settanta.
Ho ritrovato tantissime delle idee che stanno alla base del mio femminismo e che, grazie a questa lettura, sono senz'altro più solide e meglio argomentate.
Questa raccolta, a partire dall'analisi della mistica della femminilità di Betty Friedan, analizza il modo in cui la storia, la biologia, la psicologia, l'antropologia e le scienze in generale siano state distorte al fine di sostenere l'inferiorità naturale della donna e la conseguenza supremazia dell'uomo.
In una descrizione chiarificatrice sul passaggio dal comunismo primitivo matriarcale alla società di classe patriarcale, Reed sfata tutti i miti che ci accompagnano da secoli.
L'unico appunto che ho da fare è che ho trovato la selezione dei saggi un po' ripetitiva. La cosa non mi ha particolarmente infastidita perché mi ha permesso di fissare meglio alcuni dei concetti basilari, ma mi rendo conto possa risultare alquanto ridondante ad altr*.
Cinque stelle piene piene e meritatissime!
February 20, 2016
Antropoloji, etnoloji, evrim bilim konularında araştırmalar yapmış bilim insanıdır Evelyn Reed. 1905-1979 yılları arasında yaşamış, 1940 yılından başlayarak kadın özgürlüğü hareketinde aktif rol almıştır.
Toplumdaki ilk anaerkil yapılanmalar ve totem ile tabu konularında şimdiye dek yapılmamış araştırmalar yaparak Kadının Evrimi kitabını yazmış.. Bu kitabında da yine aynı kitaptan alıntılar ile birlikte, kadının erk içindeki rolü ve savaşması gerekenleri geçmişten örneklerle oldukça güzel açıklamış ve esas istememiz gerekenin anaerkil topluma geçiş değil, tam anlamıyla eşitlik olduğunun vurgusuyla beni benden almıştır.
"Dünya'da yalnızca son altı bin yıldır ataerkil düzen görülmektedir. Daha önce tam bir milyon yıl, toplulukları kadınlar yönetmiş, hayvandan insana geçişte en önemli rolü kadınlar üstlenmişlerdir. Dünyamızdaki ilk çiftçiler, ilk doktor ve bilim adamları kadındır. Toplumsal güdülerin gelişmesine cinsel ilişkiler değil, anasal işlevler yol açmıştır. Dişi cins, erkekleri hayvanlıktan çıkarıp insanlığa yükseltmiş, ırkımızı uygarlığın eşiğine getirmiştir. Erkekler sürekli olarak avlanmakta ve savaşmaktaydılar. Bu nedenle insanlığı hayvansı yaşantısından kurtarıp insan özellikleriyle donatma işi, kadınlara kalmıştı. Kadınlar birarada çalışmaktaydılar. Bunun sonucu olarak, anaerkil toplum, insanların birbirlerine karşı kardeşçil duygular beslediği bir başka toplumsal dizgeyi yarattı. Aslına bakılırsa, kadınlar, erkeklere birbirleriyle ve diğer türdeşleriyle geçinmeyi öğretti. "[Evelyn Reed]
January 8, 2022
ممتع و جميل و معلوماته مثيرة للأهتمام فعلا، و أيضا سعيدة بقراءة أول كتاب بترجمة صديقتي المقربة رغد :)
July 3, 2024
Very insightful. Some things could be more thoroughly examined, like the question how it was exactly the men that came on top in the process of a coming class society. How could the dominant group lose it in that moment, even though there were no profound social gender differentiations. The context and the process before and after are very clear , but the transition itself could be more delved into.
August 22, 2023
Having to read this work so long after publication may make a reader (like myself) take a number of Reed's arguments for granted. Progressives of the 21st century tend to be versed on the marital subjugation of women, their exclusion from economic activity, the exploitation inherent to the beauty industry, etc. But this work was foundational in or understanding of these realities AND its depth in their analysis can absolutely teach a contemporary reader something new. This book does a great job expanding on and updating Engels' ideas from Private Property and the State, and actually improves greatly upon the analysis of 'proto-communist' societies and the importance of women in the scientific/agricultural/political developments of pre-history. The only weak point that springs to mind is the section critiquing Margaret Mead - and truly there's a lot to critique - but the "de-personalization" argument is poorly written, confusing, and a bit Victorian. That aside, it's an excellent REED.
December 5, 2018
reed takes a very brave stab at misogynistic popular anthropology, unfortunately with the aid of scientific anthropologies drawn from racist, paternalistic anthropologists. would love to read an updated version drawn from indigenous scholars' accounts of their own societies and histories, but as-is, even the sections dealing with then-current affairs are unaccountably white-focused.
July 14, 2008
I'm not sure why these sort of publications aren't handed around to women in feminist circles. If you have a vagina this is important information for you to have in your hands.
September 7, 2025
Reed begins by questioning widely held assumptions about gender, refuting the notion that women’s inferiority or difference is dictated by biology. Instead, she asserts that conceptions of what constitutes a woman and her role are social constructs shaped by class society and economic organization.
Central to Reed’s argument is the idea that women’s oppression cannot be understood apart from the broader structure of class society. She emphasizes that while all women experience varying forms of discrimination and marginalization, the key factor in their emancipation is not unity among all women, but their alignment with working-class men against the ruling class—both male and female. Reed argues that women of the ruling class share greater interests with their economic peers than with working-class women, highlighting that true liberation is possible only through the transformation of the entire capitalist system.
Reed critically examines the family as an institution born out of property relations rather than sentiment, arguing that the nuclear family, beauty standards, and social expectations are all mechanisms of women’s exploitation. She exposes how the family’s historic evolution served to reinforce women’s economic dependence and subordinate legal status, and how even cultural phenomena like the beauty industry are means of commodification, masking deeper forms of exploitation.
A major strength of Reed’s work is her materialist approach to women’s history: she traces women’s changing status from early communal societies to modern capitalism, showing that the development of private property and class society drove shifts in women’s roles—from productive equals in society to unpaid reproducers of labor and maintainers of the workforce under capitalism. Reed contends that women’s unpaid domestic labor is a form of exploitation essential to maintaining capitalist economies—a point that remains vital to socialist feminist critique.
Reed concludes that for women to achieve genuine liberation, the fight must be directed against the economic and class structures that perpetuate inequality. The movement, therefore, must not be sidetracked by appeals to classless or purely gender-based solidarity, but must stay rooted in class struggle, aimed at the abolition of capitalism itself. Problems of Women’s Liberation thus remains an influential, sharply argued book that situates women’s oppression and emancipation squarely within the struggle for social and economic transformation.
Central to Reed’s argument is the idea that women’s oppression cannot be understood apart from the broader structure of class society. She emphasizes that while all women experience varying forms of discrimination and marginalization, the key factor in their emancipation is not unity among all women, but their alignment with working-class men against the ruling class—both male and female. Reed argues that women of the ruling class share greater interests with their economic peers than with working-class women, highlighting that true liberation is possible only through the transformation of the entire capitalist system.
Reed critically examines the family as an institution born out of property relations rather than sentiment, arguing that the nuclear family, beauty standards, and social expectations are all mechanisms of women’s exploitation. She exposes how the family’s historic evolution served to reinforce women’s economic dependence and subordinate legal status, and how even cultural phenomena like the beauty industry are means of commodification, masking deeper forms of exploitation.
A major strength of Reed’s work is her materialist approach to women’s history: she traces women’s changing status from early communal societies to modern capitalism, showing that the development of private property and class society drove shifts in women’s roles—from productive equals in society to unpaid reproducers of labor and maintainers of the workforce under capitalism. Reed contends that women’s unpaid domestic labor is a form of exploitation essential to maintaining capitalist economies—a point that remains vital to socialist feminist critique.
Reed concludes that for women to achieve genuine liberation, the fight must be directed against the economic and class structures that perpetuate inequality. The movement, therefore, must not be sidetracked by appeals to classless or purely gender-based solidarity, but must stay rooted in class struggle, aimed at the abolition of capitalism itself. Problems of Women’s Liberation thus remains an influential, sharply argued book that situates women’s oppression and emancipation squarely within the struggle for social and economic transformation.
March 2, 2023
Women's issues, both in the country and internationally, became an argument when special days and commemorations became the agenda. However, the concept of social equality is a subject that should be approached carefully for life and for a "happy" life, which is the main concern of almost everyone, not to fill daily conversations and daily news content. because if you let the media take the lead, what the bourgeois media will put in front of you will be "March 8 women's day" and direct you to gift-based shopping. You should realize that a day called March 8, International Working Women's Day, will manipulate the corrupted content (shopping) with its corrupt name and add you to the herd. This is where the problems of women's liberation begin. because, in general terms, women's vital troubles and problems sprout through the problems experienced by the oppressed class, regardless of men and women. These problems indirectly destroy the standard of living of men. That's why we need to keep the concept of "social equality", from which we have been systematically removed, on our individual agenda. Why did I tell you all this? What does it have to do with the book? you may ask. In the book, we are told that the women's problem is a class problem and that these problems can be overcome with a social stance, regardless of men and women. However, there is a difference that women are manipulated and oppressed more than men. because women are once again marginalized with the perception created by those who lead the established system through discourse and media.
At this point, the book steps in and goes to the root of women's freedom problems and deals with the situation both in terms of class and gender. When it is said that history consists of the struggle of the oppressors and the oppressed, this is exactly what is meant on the basis of this subject.
A book full of hope, but full of negation because it makes a diagnosis. it is strongly recommended.
Do not lose your smile.
At this point, the book steps in and goes to the root of women's freedom problems and deals with the situation both in terms of class and gender. When it is said that history consists of the struggle of the oppressors and the oppressed, this is exactly what is meant on the basis of this subject.
A book full of hope, but full of negation because it makes a diagnosis. it is strongly recommended.
Do not lose your smile.
July 14, 2025
یادداشتی بر این کتاب برای فارسی زبانان :
خواندن کتاب تجربهای بسیار لذت بخش و اندکی دردناک بود ، لذت بخش از این نظر که آگاهی همیشه لذت بخش هست خصوصا برای ما زنها.
دردناک از این نظر که تاریخ به ما نشان داد که ما چطور و چگونه بودیم و چهشد که به این نقطه رسیدیم.
من از این کتاب بسیار آموختم ، از دوره مادرسالاری که تعریف میکرد بسیار لذت بردم از اینکه متوجه شدم زنان در طول تاریخ چه نقشی ایفا کردند.
لازم به ذکر هم هست که اشاره کنم بعضی نکاتی که در این کتاب مطرح شده باب میل همه _خصوصا افراد مذهبی _ نخواهد بود.
دیدگاه های اشتباه به راحتی در این کتاب زیر ذره بین میروند و خیلی جذاب و با استناد به مدارک تاریخی درباره آنها صحبت میشود .
قطعا وجود این کتاب در کتابخانه بی ارزش و برای یکبار خواندن نیست و کتابی است که همیشه باید به آن رجوع کرد و آن را خواند و در فضای آن غرق شد.
خواندن کتاب تجربهای بسیار لذت بخش و اندکی دردناک بود ، لذت بخش از این نظر که آگاهی همیشه لذت بخش هست خصوصا برای ما زنها.
دردناک از این نظر که تاریخ به ما نشان داد که ما چطور و چگونه بودیم و چهشد که به این نقطه رسیدیم.
من از این کتاب بسیار آموختم ، از دوره مادرسالاری که تعریف میکرد بسیار لذت بردم از اینکه متوجه شدم زنان در طول تاریخ چه نقشی ایفا کردند.
لازم به ذکر هم هست که اشاره کنم بعضی نکاتی که در این کتاب مطرح شده باب میل همه _خصوصا افراد مذهبی _ نخواهد بود.
دیدگاه های اشتباه به راحتی در این کتاب زیر ذره بین میروند و خیلی جذاب و با استناد به مدارک تاریخی درباره آنها صحبت میشود .
قطعا وجود این کتاب در کتابخانه بی ارزش و برای یکبار خواندن نیست و کتابی است که همیشه باید به آن رجوع کرد و آن را خواند و در فضای آن غرق شد.
April 11, 2024
لستُ من مؤيدي الرؤية الإشتراكية من قريب ولا بعيد،
لكنني استمتعت للغاية بهذا الكتاب، وبهذا التحليل الجميل.
أشكر الانترنت على توفير مثل هذهِ الدرر مجانًا للبعيدين أمثالنا.
والشكر للمترجمة التي عثرت على هذا العمل، وترجمته بمثل هذه الترجمة الأنيقة الفذة.
لكنني استمتعت للغاية بهذا الكتاب، وبهذا التحليل الجميل.
أشكر الانترنت على توفير مثل هذهِ الدرر مجانًا للبعيدين أمثالنا.
والشكر للمترجمة التي عثرت على هذا العمل، وترجمته بمثل هذه الترجمة الأنيقة الفذة.
August 7, 2018
this book was the first one to lead me to the world of feminism studies💙💫 ♀ 💪🏻
June 11, 2025
teaches some basically sound conclusions based on completely insane sometimes racist glosses of All Of History And Anthropology lol
August 1, 2025
إنّ الموقف النّظري المغلوط يؤدّي ببساطة إلى استراتيجية مغلوطة في النّضال من أجل تحرّر المرأة
July 1, 2025
مسائل آزادی زنان نوشتهی اولین رید، از آن دست کتابهاییست که با زبان ساده و صریح، پیچیدهترین مسائل اجتماعی قرن بیستم را میشکافد و در خدمت طرح یک هدف قرار میدهد: پیوند مبارزهی طبقاتی با آزادی زنان. این کتاب نه صرفاً یک متن فمینیستیست، نه صرفاً مارکسیستی؛ بلکه تلاشیست برای نگریستن به موقعیت زنان در چارچوبی تاریخی-اقتصادی که از دل ماتریالیسم تاریخی بیرون کشیده شده. اولین رید، بهعنوان یک کنشگر و نظریهپرداز کمونیست، میکوشد به این پرسش پاسخ دهد: چگونه میتوان رهایی زنان را بدون درک ماهیت سرمایهداری، به درستی فهمید؟
نقطهی قوت کتاب در وضوح زبان، استدلالمندی ساختار و تکیهاش بر تجربهی تاریخی است. رید، سیر جایگاه اجتماعی زنان را از جوامع اولیه تا سرمایهداری صنعتی ردیابی میکند و نشان میدهد چگونه تملک ابزار تولید، ساختار خانواده، و نهادهای مذهبی، همه در خدمت تثبیت موقعیت فرودست زن بودهاند. از منظر او، زنِ خانهدار در جامعهی سرمایهداری، نیروی کاریست که بدون دستمزد تولید و بازتولید میکند؛ نیرویی که به بازتولید نیروی کار (فرزندان و کارگران آینده) کمک میکند، بدون آنکه به رسمیت شناخته شود. در نتیجه، رهایی زنان نه در اصلاح فرهنگ، بلکه در براندازی نظم اقتصادیِ استثمارگر ممکن است.
اما این نقطهی تمرکز، یعنی نگاه مارکسیستی صرف به ستم جنسیتی، همانجاییست که نقدها نیز از آنجا آغاز میشوند. یکی از انتقادهای اصلی به کتاب، نوعی تقلیلگرایی اقتصادیست: اینکه رید تمام ابعاد پیچیدهی فرودستی زنان – از خشونت جنسی گرفته تا سلطهی نمادین، هنجارهای زیبایی، زبان و بدن – را به تضاد طبقاتی و مالکیت ابزار تولید فرو میکاهد. این نگرش، هرچند در بستر تاریخی خود روشنگر است، اما نمیتواند بهتنهایی پاسخگوی طیف وسیعی از تجربههای جنسیتی باشد، بهویژه در جوامع غیرغربی، یا در نسبت با مسائلی چون هویت جنسی، نژاد، مذهب، یا طبقههای جدیدی که در سرمایهداری معاصر شکل گرفتهاند.
رید، بهدرستی با فمینیسم لیبرال مرزبندی میکند؛ آن نوع فمینیسمی که خواهان دسترسی زنان به امتیازهای مردان در همان نظام نابرابر است. اما در عوض، به جای طرح فمینیسمی چندلایه و چندصدایی، راه را به سوی نوعی همگونی ایدئولوژیک باز میکند: زن بهمثابه کارگر خانگی که باید به میدان مبارزهی طبقاتی کشانده شود. این نگاه، اگرچه رادیکال است، اما مخاطرات خود را دارد: از جمله نادیدهگرفتن تجربههای خاص زنانی که در دل ستمهای غیرطبقاتی – مثل خشونت خانگی، تبعیض جنسی یا حاشیهنشینی فرهنگی – زندگی میکنند.
با این حال، کتاب اولین رید همچنان جایگاه مهمی در تاریخ اندیشهی فمینیستی دارد. او از معدود چهرههاییست که بهطور جدی تلاش کرد پُل بزند بین مارکسیسم و فمینیسم، و از هر دو سو هم نقد شد. نه فمینیستهای لیبرال حاضر بودند تحلیلهای طبقاتیاش را بپذیرند، و نه مارکسیستهای ارتدوکس بهراحتی از تحلیلهای جنسیتیاش استقبال کردند. و شاید دقیقاً همین ایستادن در خط مرزی، نقطهی ارزشمندی اثر باشد.
مسائل آزادی زنان نه کتابی تمامعیار و بینقص، بلکه آغازی جسورانه برای تفکریست که نمیخواهد یا زن را فقط قربانی پدرسالاری بداند، یا فقط نیروی کار خانگی. بلکه میخواهد زن را در گسل تاریخی میان اقتصاد، سیاست و بدن ببیند.
و شاید هنوز، با تمام نقدها، ما به چنین نگاهی نیاز داریم: نگاهی که بگوید آزادی زن، نه فقط در آزادی از مرد، بلکه در آزادی از هر ساختاریست که زنبودن را به خدمت بگیرد. خواه سرمایهداری، خواه سنت، خواه حتی برخی اشکال فمینیسمِ گزینشی.
نقطهی قوت کتاب در وضوح زبان، استدلالمندی ساختار و تکیهاش بر تجربهی تاریخی است. رید، سیر جایگاه اجتماعی زنان را از جوامع اولیه تا سرمایهداری صنعتی ردیابی میکند و نشان میدهد چگونه تملک ابزار تولید، ساختار خانواده، و نهادهای مذهبی، همه در خدمت تثبیت موقعیت فرودست زن بودهاند. از منظر او، زنِ خانهدار در جامعهی سرمایهداری، نیروی کاریست که بدون دستمزد تولید و بازتولید میکند؛ نیرویی که به بازتولید نیروی کار (فرزندان و کارگران آینده) کمک میکند، بدون آنکه به رسمیت شناخته شود. در نتیجه، رهایی زنان نه در اصلاح فرهنگ، بلکه در براندازی نظم اقتصادیِ استثمارگر ممکن است.
اما این نقطهی تمرکز، یعنی نگاه مارکسیستی صرف به ستم جنسیتی، همانجاییست که نقدها نیز از آنجا آغاز میشوند. یکی از انتقادهای اصلی به کتاب، نوعی تقلیلگرایی اقتصادیست: اینکه رید تمام ابعاد پیچیدهی فرودستی زنان – از خشونت جنسی گرفته تا سلطهی نمادین، هنجارهای زیبایی، زبان و بدن – را به تضاد طبقاتی و مالکیت ابزار تولید فرو میکاهد. این نگرش، هرچند در بستر تاریخی خود روشنگر است، اما نمیتواند بهتنهایی پاسخگوی طیف وسیعی از تجربههای جنسیتی باشد، بهویژه در جوامع غیرغربی، یا در نسبت با مسائلی چون هویت جنسی، نژاد، مذهب، یا طبقههای جدیدی که در سرمایهداری معاصر شکل گرفتهاند.
رید، بهدرستی با فمینیسم لیبرال مرزبندی میکند؛ آن نوع فمینیسمی که خواهان دسترسی زنان به امتیازهای مردان در همان نظام نابرابر است. اما در عوض، به جای طرح فمینیسمی چندلایه و چندصدایی، راه را به سوی نوعی همگونی ایدئولوژیک باز میکند: زن بهمثابه کارگر خانگی که باید به میدان مبارزهی طبقاتی کشانده شود. این نگاه، اگرچه رادیکال است، اما مخاطرات خود را دارد: از جمله نادیدهگرفتن تجربههای خاص زنانی که در دل ستمهای غیرطبقاتی – مثل خشونت خانگی، تبعیض جنسی یا حاشیهنشینی فرهنگی – زندگی میکنند.
با این حال، کتاب اولین رید همچنان جایگاه مهمی در تاریخ اندیشهی فمینیستی دارد. او از معدود چهرههاییست که بهطور جدی تلاش کرد پُل بزند بین مارکسیسم و فمینیسم، و از هر دو سو هم نقد شد. نه فمینیستهای لیبرال حاضر بودند تحلیلهای طبقاتیاش را بپذیرند، و نه مارکسیستهای ارتدوکس بهراحتی از تحلیلهای جنسیتیاش استقبال کردند. و شاید دقیقاً همین ایستادن در خط مرزی، نقطهی ارزشمندی اثر باشد.
مسائل آزادی زنان نه کتابی تمامعیار و بینقص، بلکه آغازی جسورانه برای تفکریست که نمیخواهد یا زن را فقط قربانی پدرسالاری بداند، یا فقط نیروی کار خانگی. بلکه میخواهد زن را در گسل تاریخی میان اقتصاد، سیاست و بدن ببیند.
و شاید هنوز، با تمام نقدها، ما به چنین نگاهی نیاز داریم: نگاهی که بگوید آزادی زن، نه فقط در آزادی از مرد، بلکه در آزادی از هر ساختاریست که زنبودن را به خدمت بگیرد. خواه سرمایهداری، خواه سنت، خواه حتی برخی اشکال فمینیسمِ گزینشی.
October 31, 2025
First published in 1969, this book was read by many of the thousands interested in fighting for women's liberation and interested in socialism. And it still has more to say than most of the books claiming to be feminist today, when feminism is being presented more as celebration of victimhood and less as the fight against it. When women's sports and many others of women's gains are being threatened by the claim that men who think they're women, or simply claim to be, are. This constitutes an attack on women's gains as well as an assault on scientific thinking.
Be sure to read Cosmetics, Fashion, and the Exploitation of Women and Labor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of History.
Be sure to read Cosmetics, Fashion, and the Exploitation of Women and Labor, Nature, and the Evolution of Humanity: The Long View of History.
January 9, 2014
دید به شدت سوسیالیستی نویسنده یکم آزار دهنده بود
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