Is sexism economic?
On neoliberalism, the global economy, and sexism as pushed through the means of production.
Sexism, discrimination based on sex, is not to be reduced to just an economic issue. It is a very political issue. It is an everyday experience, and it should matter more as a threat to women than as a threat to capitalism. That being said, our economies are sexist. They are sexist in how they are upheld. They are sexist in what they include or exclude. They are sexist in how they are measured. They are sexist in what they reproduce.
The global economy strongly upholds sexism through its institutions. These include laws, informal laws, practices, and norms which collectively influence women’s participation in the economy, or, more accurately, restrict their participation. Women and girls comprehensively constitute roughly $10.8 trillion of the global economy[2]. Their contribution, however, goes unrewarded materially and is deemed domestic labour(1), or care work more generally. The problem is that institutional care work, like nursing, teaching, or social work, become terminally underpaid and are generally dominated by women. This example is twofold; on the one hand, women are socialized to deem themselves qualified for jobs as such (as opposed to any other sectors) which draws them to the care work. Not to mention that it becomes easier to land these jobs as opposed to jobs in the engineering or business industries as there exists less gender-based complications and harassment within care work. In Egypt, for example, women’s employment was at 23.1 percent in 2016, with most of this employment being in the public sector (World Bank, 2019). On the other hand, the influx of women in care work becomes self-reproductive and the problem of underpayment is lengthened as it becomes the “norm” in a global society where women are taught to be thankful they ‘have the opportunity to work’ and refrain away from negotiating their salaries. With this, women accept low rates of employment, low wages, and harsh practices simply because of the upheld gender roles and institutional sexism.
Exploitation goes on different levels. It is sexist, but it is also racist and colonial. It would be incomplete to address sexism from a standpoint
Not only is the marginalization of care work ever present, sexism also presents itself through complications in property and resource ownership. Where men own 50% more wealth than women is also where women are socially restricted from the means through which they can gain this same amount of wealth. People who own property, the means of production, and other forms of wealth are the people who are able to choose what to do with their lives. These people create and uphold their systems of power. This means that the global system essentially exists to uphold capitalism and empower male, white capitalists – people of privilege - who continue to grow richer and more powerful while the masses, who create their wealth and give their products surplus value(2), continue to be exploited. Exploitation goes on different levels. It is sexist, but it is also racist and colonial. It would be incomplete to address sexism from a standpoint that is anything other than intersectional(3). Women of colour, women of different class backgrounds, women from different walks of life are all affected in varying ways. Different people are exploited in different ways, and sexism becomes a tool for the white male to feed their greed under the pretence of profit. It becomes a pretence and an excuse for men and people in privilege to continue owning and operating power.
With this focus on profit maximization in mind, the global system is one that is built on neoliberal economic values for neoliberals. Neoliberalism is a concept in social sciences that pushes the free market into every aspect of society – it makes the state an organization that simply promotes competition rather than providing public welfare such as schools, insurance, and other public services. It also promotes a global market to ensure global competition. As a result, all other values are subdued and compromised. Value is built solely on economic value, undermining any practice that does not immediately maximize one’s profit. Global neoliberalism creates a cyclical structure where social mobility becomes an almost unachievable dream for women, people of color, and economically dis-privileged people whilst simultaneously pinning the ‘blame’ on them as individuals rather than address institutional systems of inequality(Ferguson).
It could feel disempowering to sink into this way of thinking. But it is important to remember that there always exist prospects for hope. The internet is a place for mobilization, and a revolution is quite literally one tweet away. If there is anything that the recent anti-sexual harassment movement in Egypt, deemed a “#MeToo” moment, shows, it’s the power of collective action. It is the power of unity and it is the power of harmonizing our voices as women. To quote Mona El Tahawy, ‘there is no revolution without the liberation of women’. We have the power to create change. We have the power to demand what we deserve. We have the power to challenge the neoliberal economic order.
Notes for further understanding:
(1)Domestic labour constitute labour, or work, done inside households. Domestic workersare often paid for their work in childcare or housework. Many women are not paid for domestic labour. Consider reading this NYT articlewhich states that women’s unpaid labour in the US alone is worth up to 11 trillion dollars. According to the World Bank (2019), Egyptian women, 91 percent of them, reported that they performed unpaid household activites.
(2)Surplus value is the value added during production. For example, wood, once it becomes paper, a table, or a bed frame, gains value – this is the difference between the cost it took the owner to produce a product and the amount it is sold at in the end.
(3) Intersectionality, a phrase coined by professor Kimberly Crenshaw, refers to the ways different categories interact with one another, creating multiple systems of oppression and disadvantage.
About the guest author:
Nour (class of ‘22) is a political science major at AUC minoring in anthropology. Her research interests include resistance and minority rights.
Citations and sources for further reading:
“Egypt: Women Economic Empowerment Study.” The World Bank, Mar. 2019. World Bank, documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/861491551113547855/pdf/134846-WP-PUBLIC-march-2-WB-Women-Study-EN.pdf.
Ferguson, Susan. Social Reproduction: What’s the Big Idea?
Ferrant, Gaëlle, and Alexandere Koleve. “The Economic Cost of Gender-Based Discrimination in Social Institutions.” OECD Development Centre, June 2016, www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/SIGI_cost_final.pdf.
Hanson, Molly. “Oxfam: The Global Economy Is Sexist.” Big Think, Big Think, 6 Feb. 2020, bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/economic-inequality-gender?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1.