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Assignment 04

he degradation of women was not surprising to me.   Women could not obtain some jobs for pay, however they were allowed to join only to be the supporters or pleasers of men, for example, become cooks, washers, prostitutes, and wives.  As usual, it is more difficult for women to independently support themselves rather than a man’s ability to support himself. Because of this, women were confined with reproductive labor, occupations that were devalued, and were excluded from many occupations.  Not only that, but they would be paid the lowest rates.  Women were basically ripped away from their rights to be equal by a man, and the capitalist economy used this to their own advantage.  The labor power of women slowly decreased and their dependence on men increased.  During this time the price revolution and the wage collapse had heavily affected women. Their wages compared to their male counterparts were decreasing as the years went on. This also led to the shortage of food/bread. The wealthy were the ones who received the best bread.  Because of this, the outrage of the poor women resulted in them demanding bread in and doing so in unethical ways. The dehumanization of women became a way to normalize the corruption of the wealth in a capitalist economy.  Not paying women the same as men, or even restricting them for getting paid downgraded women even though they were doing the same work as men.  This gave them less value, while at the same time the government benefits their wealth by keeping the money they save from the work labor that they are not paying these women.

This is similar to society today. Unbelievingly, we still have a pay gap for women working the same job as men.  This is degrading to women because it makes them seem like they are not as worthy as men in the workforce. Or when the government taxes tampons as “luxury goods” as if women can control their bodies.  This is just a couple examples how the degradation of women adds to the  wealth in a capitalist political economy today.