Like in many other arcas, even with regard to the question of women, Marx made Hegel the starting point. Hegel regarded women as inferior, with less reasoning abilities, secing the natural differences between men and women as immutable. Marx did not say much on the role and position of women. He took it for granted that Socialism would bring about their emancipation. In the German Ideology and the Capital, he spoke of the natural and spontaneous division of labour within the family.
The natural relationship paved the way for social one, and the first property relationship was the one when the man regarded his wife and children as his slaves. The man had power over them, and could do with their labour as he chose, though Marx did not explain how this came about. Marx did not focus his attention on the position and role of women.
Engels, in the Origins, provided a materialist account of the origins of patriarchy, and linked women's subordination with the rise of private property. In the Holy Family, Marx and Engels observed that the degree of emancipation of women could be used as a standard by which one could measure general emancipation. Marx reiterated this view in a letter to Dr. L. Kugelmann in 1868 that social progress could be assessed exactly by the social position of women.
In 1845, Marx warned 2) against treating the family regardless of its specific historic setting. In his criticism of Max Stirner (1805-1856), he observed that it was a misconception to speak of the family without qualification. Historically, the bourgeoisie endowed the family with the characteristics of the bourgeois family, whose ties were boredom and money.
According to Karl Marx, women emancipation can be judged from which of the following?
Correct Answer: (d) General Emancipation
Solution:Marx and Engels observed that the degree of emancipation of women could be used as a standard by which one could measure general emancipation.