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Assignment 04

In The Caliban and the Witch, by Silvia Frederici she describes the degradation of women, and this economic and political system in association with labor force. She discusses woman being oppressed under strong domination in the work force leaving them powerless. Women were looked at as inferior to men causing a mass of division in the workforce as well. This manipulation of women only benefited one side, Frederici said it herself that capitalism has formed enslavement serving to identify and conceal exploitation. In the midst of creating a capital base this system was  humiliating the working class woman.

From the beginning of the Woman’s Movement, women were socially unequal to men. Looked at as only child bearers, sexual beings, wives, and pro creators. This sexual division of labor caused woman to be associated with reproduction and the female body itself was an accumulation of wealth ” in the development of new reproductive technologies that reduce women to wombs” (Frederici,17). Another form of power was the control of the human body also known as “valorization”, without permission their bodies were social, political, and economic machines by the government just to attain capital. This government fed off of the lives of others who they viewed to be subordinate.

Extreme poverty arose due to the lack of wages these women attained during the wage collapse. Woman struggled to support themselves because they received half of the pay a man would receive and for the same exact job. By the 16th century they couldn’t support themselves by agriculture, manufacturing, or wage work, therefore prostitution was on the rise during this time. Their independence was gone being forced to depend on men and they were put into a position of economic dependence. Consequently transitioning from feudalism to capitalism woman endured indignity that was significant in the accumulation of wealth in a capitalist economy.