Acta Sociologica

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Sex/Gender, Power and Politics: Towards a Theory of the

Foundations of Male Authority in the Formally Equal Society
Anna G. Jónasdóttir
Acta Sociologica 1988 31: 157
DOI: 10.1177/000169938803100204

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 >> Version of Record - Jan 1, 1988

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Sex/Gender, Power and Politics:
Towards a Theory of the Foundations
of Male Authority in the Formally
Equal Society*
Anna G. Jónasdóttir
Department of Political Science,University of Gothenburg and
Department of Politics, Orebro University

In this article I summarize some main points from a larger study which I am
doing on theoretical conceptualization of the formal/equal patriarchy of
today Although I see myself as a socialist feminist, applying historical
materialist method to feminist questions,I am critical of contemporary
socialist feminist theory for not taking the issues raised by radical feminists
seriously enough; for clinging too closely to the specific Marxian prob-
lematique of political economy and class, and for not stating the basic
problem as one of power transactions in the relationship between women
and men as socio-sexual beings My position is that in order to develop a
feminist theory of patriarchy, we must transcend the ’field of knowledge’ of
economy, class and work much more decisively than the socialist feminist
theory of today does We must establish a specific theoretical problematique
( field of knowledge), that of ’political sexuality’, socio-sexual relationship,
and love In doing this we can very well use historical materialism as guiding
threads’ Characterizing patnarchy as a political sex/gender system, the core
of my theory is constructed in terms of a specific sex/gender exploitation,
which is essentially non-economic but social and human-matenal.

over the slow heavy movements ,

we have no control
for we usually do not know
ahead of time
their exact direction
and force
&dquo;

We are ourselves part . .

of the movement

.
The onginal, and somewhat different, version of this article was given as a lecture (m
Icelandic)at the first Icelandic Women’s Studies Conference, the University of Iceland.
Reykjavik, 29 August to 1 September 1985 A revised Swedish version was published in the
anthology Femimsm och mar.,rism. En foralskelse med forhl1lder. Stockholm- Arbetarkultur
(1986). The translation into English was done by Jan Teeland. Many thanks to her.

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The fixed point
for measunng the movement .
,

does not exist

Marx nailed it to economy, in

’
the relations of production _
, >I ’
,
.

’’
and that is .

.
> . ’ > -

a sensible point of departure _ ,

.
’

but not a fixed point -

- ’

~
’
&dquo; &dquo;

’
~ ’
’
’

~’ ’

&dquo;
from The Impossible by G6ran Sonnevi
’
.
J ; .

.. ~ &dquo; ,&dquo; ,l I
’
’
,

Introduction
For several years I have been working primarily with theoretical studies of the
power relations between the sexes. I have studied patriarchy, or male domination
(the terms are used synonymously) as a social power system.’ My assumption is
that sex/gender - women and men as socio-sexual beings - comprises a particular
material base which generates and shapes history and society.
Certain aspects of the total process of life and society have to do with the fact
that we are sexual beings, driven by desire for and need of one another. These
needs and desires enable us to empower each other as human beings, and to
create others, as individuals and species. These socio-sexual features must be
comprehended in and for themselves; they comprise particular parts of the weaving
together of society as a processual whole. Together with other human necessities,
such as the need for food, shelter and beauty, sexuality creates or constitutes social
life.
How have the relations between women and men become a multi-dimensional
power structure? Certain feminist researchers claim that inequality between the
sexes has always existed, which is not to say that it must remain indefinitely. Others
believe that a systematic and institutionalized inequality and oppression of women
has emerged historically in connection with the development of other inequalities,
mainly those of class.’-2
In addition to the question of the origins of patriarchy, we also have the extremely
important issue of the historical changes in the power relations between the sexes.
Can we distinguish any previous decisive changes in the sex/gender structure of
society? If so, in what ways are they connected to other social changes? Can we
locate any historical roots for the specific form of the sex/gender system that we
live in today in the West? In Sweden? Some see these roots in the rise and
development of industrialism; others say that they must be sought on a different
level and farther back in time. In certain countries a fundamental social trans-
formation occurred long before industrialism. This transformation encompassed
the economy, sexual life, the state, marriage, religion and the law.33
In order to be able to ask the right questions about these changes we must have
at the same time a theory of society as it looks today. How are we to explain the
power relationships between the sexes which can be observed presently in society?
Are there any basic mechanisms in this system that can be described which might
provide a certain perspective on the many different practices through which women
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and men are related to each other, such as work, love, parenthood, school, art,
politics?’’
There are in progress several attempts to capture, theoretically, the basic mech-
anisms of patriarchy. It is vital to this process of knowledge to successively pose
new questions, which means that reality is constantly questioned. An interplay
between empirical and theoretical studies is necessary and new questions require
also, among other things, a critical study of older theories and concepts. By way of
introduction I would like to present a few of the hypotheses I have been working
with:
. sexual life
encompasses its own production: the creation and recreation, the
formation and empowerment of human beings - children and adults;
. when we attempt to explain the
unequal positions of women and men in today’s
society, we should envisage the set of relations between the sexes as a particular
political power system;
w the fact that, considered from a
gender perspective, our society is male-dominated
in all areas does not mean that women have no influence at all; what they lack
is authority - as women;
. it is
advantageous to keep the sex/gender perspective relatively distinct from for
example a class perspective (or other social oppositions) if the aim is to explain
the bases for male authority;
0 the
position of women as producers of children is today perhaps not the crucial
point in gender-political issues, neither is the position of women as a labor force
(or reserve labor force), but women as &dquo;empowerers&dquo; of social existence - for
men;
. now as never before women question being used as a source of pleasure and
power, be drained of their strength which men convert to instrumental energy -
to
without getting the same in return.
As I indicated in the introduction, the problem of describing and explaining
patriarchy has at least three sides, which for the sake of clarity should be distin-
guished from each other. I have previously called these the anthropological, the
historical and the theoretical sides.These terms refer to (1) the question of the
earliest origins of patnarchy, (2) its historical changes, including the historical roots
of the form of male society which prevails today, and (3) the question of how
patriarchy is structured today and how it reproduces itself in our present form of
society, which perhaps only now can be particularly manifest.Ihave worked
primarily with the third side, i.e. I attempt to capture the essential characteristics
of present-day male dominance in theoretical concepts. I would like to underline
once again that my analysis only applies to societies comparable with our own, in
which the most important criterion is that a formal equality prevails between the
sexes. In the following I will try to summarize some of the thoughts I am currently

working with and the point I have reached - a somewhat more detailed discussion
around the hypotheses or propositions listed above.

Feminist questions are provoked

From about 1970 the main lines in Western feminist theory concerning the basis of
the oppression of women have been fairly clear. Simultaneously in several countries,

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perhaps first in the US, England and France, a break between conflicting points of
view occurred, with very fruitful results. So-called radical feminism, which as Juliet
Mitchell wrote in her book, The New Women’s Movement, had arisen like ’a
phoenix’ out of the left-wing, male-dominated protest movements of the 1960s,
stood against a rigid Marxism.’ In the radical circles of the 1960s, where politics
and scholarship inspired each other, the Marxists - mostly men - took upon
themselves the right to define women’s newly-awakened insights concerning the
unequal social positions of the sexes to be of absolutely less importance than the
issue of class. In these circles feminists’ tentative attempts to develop their new
ideas were opposed. Both small and large self-appointed Marx and Lenin potentates
claimed to have clear evidence that independent feminist analyses were scientifically
meaningless, politically dangerous and, at best, trivial. In other and more established
research milieus where ’class’ was not the main weapon against the feminist
perspective, the terms ’individual’, ’humanity’ and, particularly, ’high scientific
standards’ and ’intersubjectivity’ were used in the same way - to deny women’s
demands for recognition of the fact that ’humanity’ consisted of both men and
women, and that something - not a small something either - was wrong in their
relations with each other. Women also claimed that in order for the situation of
the sexes to be studied properly, established concepts, theories and methods had
H
to be profoundly reconsidered.&dquo;
But Marxist environments meant not only opposition and the paralyzation of
ideas, but also powerful inspiration. The rapid development of Marxist ideas during
the 1960s and 1970s meant a great deal to the new feminist perspective. Of the then
prevailing lines of approach in the social and behavioural sciences, it was only
within Marxism that concepts such as ’power’, ’oppression’ and ’liberation’ were
used systematically. These concepts seemed opportune for many women who were
far outside the traditional Marxist lines, women who were searching for words to
apply to existing but almost invisible and unmentionable problems. Betty Friedan
had for example begun to formulate them in the early 1960s, and Simone de
Beauvoir had written about them as early as 1949 - but then they went largely
without any notice.~9
In addition, Marxism comprised one of the very few approaches to the social
sciences that made a point of proposing a theory which covered the totality of social
mechanisms and their historical changes. There was only one serious competitor,
structural functionalism, whose chief mentor was the American sociologist, Talcott
Parsons. Parsons had developed the fundamental ideas of family sociology and sex
roles theory which were predominant during the 1950s and 1960s. It was against
these polarized and, according to many, conservative theories about the separate
roles of men and women that much of feminist scholarship was aimed.’&dquo; A
characteristic feature of structural functionalism - not only in its theory of sexual
roles - is that concepts like ’power’ and ’oppositions’ are made prominent by their
absence. Another tendency in the ideas of structural functionalism is to equate
what is with what is good and desirable, the idea being that manners and customs
in a society would not have arisen had they not been functional for that society,
and consequently good and desirable from the point of view of that society’s aims.
But since power, oppositions and conflicting aims have no place in this line of
thought, neither is there any place for the question of whether certain customs are
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more functional and desirable for certain groups than for others. Conflicts or
relationshipsof dominance within marriage and the family are, for example, not
easy to capture in the Parsonian theoretical net.

Socialist feminist theory

From the break between the self-sufficient radical feminists and the ’abstract
socialists’ (Mitchell’s term) emerged a third mode, a direction which was initially
formulated by Juliet Mitchell. Central to this approach is the use of feminist insights
into problems; women’s own issues must be the focal point. On the other hand,
Marxist methods, reworked for our own purposes, can be of assistance. According
to Mitchell,
It is not ’our relationship’ to socialism that should ever be the question - it is the use of
scientific socialism as a method of analyzing the specific nature of our oppression and
hence our revolutionary role Such a method, I believe, needs the understanding of
radical feminism quite as much as of the previously developed socialist theories.&dquo;II

The American feminist and philosopher Alison Jaggar, has in her recent book
Feminist Politics and Human Nature (1983), reformulated Mitchell’s manifesto, and
m doing so has revealed its most characteristic feature. Jaggar writes:

(...J~t attempts to interpret the historical materialist method of traditional Marxism so

that it apphes to the issues made visible by radical feminists.’2

The analytic approach which I call the third mode is usually referred to as ’socialist
feminism’, or ’feminist historical materialism’. The first expression is particularly
difficult, and as used, vague and unclear. The second expression is much better as
a name for a scientific analytic approach, its main disadvantage being that it is long
and clumsy. Be that as it may, it is this line of thought that I myself tend to
endorse.’3
What then do these feminist theoreticians make of Marxism? I shall try to
summanze what they extract and utilize most.

1. The materialist concept of history views unequal power relations, the oppression
of certain groups of population and whole nationalities as products of history, thus
socially conditioned, and therefore constantly subject to change and possible to
eradicate. Prevailing inequalities and the explottahon of certain groups by others
are seen, in other words, neither as God-given, nor determined by nature, and

consequently, not eternally necessary for the happiness of individuals.

2. Hence the historical perspective is extremely important. It shows us, for example,
vicissitudes in our conditions of life - what is has not always been - and thus it is
not given that present social conditions and relationships will always exist. The
historical view also entails that people both create their own history and are created
by it; there is then no Development with a capital D without people being responsible
for it. On the other hand, people cannot in any particular histoncal moment create
a world independent of previously existing conditions: there are always limitations
to the structural possibilities within which we operate, and these possibilities lie
both inside and outside of people. This leads directly to the third point.

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3. Marxism has preserved and developed a particular view of how we receive our
knowledge and perspective of the world. This view is much older than Marx himself;
it received its ’modern’ breakthrough with the fathers of liberal social theory - e.g.
John Locke in the seventeenth century - and proposes that our ideas and knowledge
are not bom and nourished exclusively and in isolation inside our minds and then
directed outwards through our actions to shape our environment. Instead we are
both shaped by and shape our surroundings. Above all, we and our consciousness
are formed by what we do, by our practical sensuous activities.
One of the cornerstones of the matenalist concept of history is the assumption
that
it is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence
which determines their consciousness.&dquo;

Thus a special sort of causal connection is presumed to reign between our practical
activities on the one hand, and our attitudes - feelings and ideas - on the other.
One of the most important arguments of women’s studies research is founded upon
this, namely, the theory of the sexual division of work and its consequences. The
fact that women and men live and act to such a great extent in different contexts
must explain much about their differing attitudes, attributes and capacities which
otherwise seem to be so natural. 15
The idea that the practical experiences of bringing up children and caring for
other people does influence our sensibilities is not an invention of our contemporary
women’s movement. In 1612, the father of Western empiricism, Francis Bacon,
wrote on this subject in his essay ’Of Marriage and Single Life’, in which his main
message aimed at dissuading men from marrying and having children since:
He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments
to great enterprises, either of mrtue or mischief. Certamly the best works, and of greatest
ment for the public, have proceeded from the unmarned or childless men, which, both
in affection and means, have mamed and endowed the public.
z

He continues as if to counter an obvious objection:

Yet it were great reason that those that have children should have greatest care of future
times, unto which they know they must transmit their greatest pledges. ,

But there are other qualities than the special ’art of human discipline’, that emanate
from a loving co-existence with a wife and children which the philosopher and
politician Bacon would convey to his male readers, provided that they have
ambitions of doing something in the service of the public. Unmarried and childless
men make considerably better soldiers, for instance, not to speak of inquisitors

(’more cruel and hard-hearted’), ’because their tenderness is not so oft called upon’
(italics AGJ).’6
Thus a man of Bacon’s stature has assumed that there is a certain connection
between how often our ’tenderness is called upon’ and how we behave in many
public instances. How we then evaluate the various patterns of behaviour is another
question. Should we prefer the ’discipline’ attained through intimate sympathy and
acts of love? Or shall we, as Bacon advised, value decisiveness and ruthlessness
based on isolation from intimate emotional ties with other people? This is actually
a classic theme in political philosophy, recently taken up in critical feminist schol-

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arship, most recently in Carol Gilligan’s highly noted book, In A Different Voice
(1982).&dquo;
Perhaps my comments on the idea of the connection between practical existence
and consciousness have been a bit lengthy, but it is an important subject. I shall
now continue with the fourth and last point in my summary of how feminists utilize
historical materialism. .

4. All feminist researchers who are concerned with historical materialism make
some use or other of its hypothesis of what constitutes the foundations of history
and society. A section from Engel’s Origins of the Family, Private Property and the
State is most often cited:
According to the matenalistic conception, the determmng factor in history is, in the final
instance, the production and reproduction of immediate life. This again is of a two-fold
character: on the one hand, the production of the means of existence, of food, clothing,
and shelter and the tools necessary for that production ; on the other side, the production
of human bemgs themselves, the propagation of the species The social organization
under which the people of a particular historical epoch and a particular country live is
determined by both kinds of production: by the stage of development of labor on the
one hand, and of family on the other [...] 18

The of point three is to explain human consciousness and ideas. Point four
object
concerns the explanation of different social forms and institutions. Socialist feminist
theory can be divided into two main types, depending on which of the two themes
or subjects ( points 3 or 4) one concentrates upon. I would like to begin to address

my own ideas by giving a short presentation and criticism of these two main types
and their variants. I would at this point like to say that I think most feminist theory
which is informed by historical materialism is still too Marxism-fixated and too little
guided by the insights of feminism.
The first type entails a theory of gender construction: i.e. how human beings are
formed into sexually defined social characters - how gender, and above all, how
the ’second sex’ comes about. It is concerned then with the social formation of both
mind and body (cf. note 15). The second type focuses upon society’s socio-economic
processes: production and reproduction, and the position of women in these
processes. z

The theory of gender construction and its limitations

Let us look a little closer at the first type which concerns gender construction. Some
variant of psychoanalytic theory is often used as a complement to Marxism, and
new and interesting ideas have been produced.’9 Some researchers, however, reject

psychoanalysis and prefer to adapt the recent critical theories of ideology to feminist
ideas. 20 Regardless of whether psychoanalysis or a theory of ideology is used, these
studies tell us a great deal about how women and men are formed into different
sexual characters, how this begins already in infancy in relations with parents, and
how society’s ideological forces form us into the sexual beings we are for the
duration of our lives. But these studies do not focus on what must compose the
crux of any theory of male authority which, as I see it, is the relations between man
and woman and women and men. The issues pmpointed are how psycho-social man
and woman as individuals are ’born’ during childhood, or how adult masculinity

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and femininity as different role-sets are constructed by ideological powers. These
are important questions to ask and answer. However, questions such as what
happens in the relations between adult women and men as sexual beings? are not
given a central position in the above-mentioned theory of gender construction.
Women and men are involved in many different relationships with each other in
which constant transactions are carried on (’transactions’ is here a better term
than ’interactions’) between them. They are ’bound’ to each other through erotic
attraction, work relations, political relations, as students, parents, confidants, in
sports, in artistic creation - in everything and everywhere. The feminist theoretical
analysis of all these activities involving women and men as partners in discord and
in harmony is very incomplete. What is lacking is the focus on social processes
which are driven and maintained by human beings considered as sexes/genders.
Particular weight must therefore be placed on that relation, that process where the
’sexual’ can be isolated analytically, distinguished from all other activities people
are involved in as women and men, i.e. the erotic. By erotic I mean much more
than the activity essential for sustaining life - sexual intercourse. So far I have not
managed to find a better word for the complicated and in fact little known material
life processes in our bodies and souls which originate from the fact that we are
sexual human beings. I imagine that the specific realities of sexual life (eroticism)
entail a particular strength/power development in human beings and a transference
of power between people that has great significance for how we are with each other
and how we organize our societies.
To round this off, gender construction theory, or whatever it should be called,
has been designated to fill the gaps that many have pointed to and deplored in the
Marxist tradition. Marxism has no psychological or social-psychological theory, and
many have felt themselves called upon to work out such a theory, with the assistance
of psychoanalysis or other psychological theories. This orientation within feminist
theory has contributed to making this complement to Marxism gender-relevant,
and at the same time the psychological theories brought in have been criticized for
their sexism and have been re-formed. But this supplemented Marxism is still
incomplete as an explanation for our present patriarchy - it does not pinpoint the
problem. How then does it compare with the orientation of the feminist theory that
has concentrated on socio-economic themes (mentioned in point four)?

The production of the means of existence or the production of life

According to historical materialism, this issue is the most decisive factor in the
development of society. What feminists have taken hold of is that the ’production
of immediate life’, even in Marx and Engel’s definition has in fact two sides: the
production of the means of existence and the production of people, of life itself.
However, there are significant differences between feminist theorists concerning
how they adapt these basic assumptions and what they make of them. Much is still
vague, and there are even quite obvious misinterpretations of Engel’s words
What is ’production’ and what is ’reproduction’? What is ’work’ and what is
’material’? Probably, however, the most crucial question is which production is the
most decisive as regards the explanation of the foundations of patriarchy? Is it
production of the means of existence or is it the production of life? Or both equally?
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At present I have no doubts that it is the production of life we must focus upon
and examine if we are to understand as thoroughly as possible the conditions of our
existence as sexual beings, and not principally as anything else, e.g. as members of
different classes or races. It is the socially formed and historically specific oppo-
sitions around this production process which must be explained. The unequal power
relations between the sexes must now, in our type of society, explain themselves.
This may sound strange, but what I mean is that the legal and political/ideological
possibilities for equality exist in our society: neither the law nor officially authonzed
norms prescribe the subordination of women and the dominance of men any longer.

(’Male domination is now upheld on a voluntary basis’ goes one of Frederika

Bremer Society’s slogans, and in a way it is true.) Also economically and socially
men’s and women’s possibilities of managing without forced dependence upon each
other have basically changed. What remains is the dependent relations we have
with each other as sexes: the many-sided ’bond’ that relates us to each other as
erotic beings, as parents to our children, as workmates, friends and playmates, in
general, as women and men who wish to affirm the felt need to cultivate a good
life and a good society - as, simply, women and men.
What then do I mean by the ’production of life’? Much more than bearing,
nourishing and raising children, even though these activities are extremely important
in this context. Women and men, in their total intercourse in pairs and groups, also
create each other. And the needs and capacities that generate this creative process
have our bodies-and-minds as their intertwined living sources. These needs and
capacities must be satisfied and developed for the human species to survive, and
for us as individuals to lead a good and dignified life. Our bodies and souls are both
means of production and producers in this life process, and herein lies the core of
the power struggle between the sexes.

Theories of work and their limitations

With the above assertion I come into collision with those writers who believe
patriarchy to be a socially and materially based power relationship (as opposed to
those previously mentioned who mainly work with psychological and ideological
definitions). In this connection I want to mention two writers, Heidi Hartmann and
Iris Young, each of whom has her own interpretation. 22 What they have in common
is that both see society’s economic system - housework included - as the organ-
izational framework for patriarchy. Hence they both also conceive of work as the
activity which forms the base of patriarchy: sexual differentiation in work and the
man’s control over the woman’s work comprise the key issues. Both then equate
the ’material’ with the ’economic’.
What essentially differentiates these two writers is that Hartmann works with a
’dual system’ theory, while Young propounds the necessity of a new total theory.
Hartmann claims that patriarchy and capitalism form two separate systems, which,
however, must be studied and analysed as interwoven systems. Her defence of this
idea is that in reality they do not exist separately in ’pure forms’ - in reality there
is patriarchal capitalism. According to Hartmann, the most important thing to
describe and explain is the points of intersection between the two systems.
In contrast, Young polemicizes against every form of dual system theory, arguing

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that all oppositions and oppressions in society must be included and explained
within some sort of total theory. The Norwegian feminist researchers, Live Brekke
and Runa Haukaa, argue along similar lines (1980).~
z

’
’
’ ’
&dquo;&dquo;
The sexual struggle today
I would claim that in our type of society neither women’s economic dependence
upon men nor the unequal division of work between the sexes constitute the pivotal
point in men’s continuing ability to maintain and regenerate their dominance over
women and in society at large. The crux of the problem lies on the level of existential

sexual needs, which are materially and socially formed, and basically not economic.
The activities which the sexual struggle revolve around are neither work nor the
products of work, but human love - caring and ecstasy - and the products of these
activities: we ourselves, living women and men with all our needs and all our
potentials.
My assertion should not be taken to mean that I think the extremely unequal
economic relations between women and men (e.g. most women having double jobs)
is meaningless or scientifically and politically uninteresting. However, I still maintain
that the weight of the social forces which shape our possibilities in life as women
and men are historically shifting, and that this weight has now shifted to the sexual
relationship itself, which has become central in the way it was not when our
chains were directly formalized and perfectly visible in laws, or fixed in almost
insurmountable economic obstacles.
To test my hypothesis empirically may well seem very difficult if not impossible;
yet I do not think it is in principle more difficult than any other empirical testing.
However, so far there are not many systematic studies to turn to for support; at
present, descriptions of reality in this area are more or less restricted to fiction. 24
One way to test my hypothesis would be to study power positions in couple
relationships in which both parties are fairly equal professionally and also share
domestic tasks relatively equally. My argument would suggest that it is highly
probable that the man nevertheless appropriates an unproportionally large amount
of the woman’s caring and love, both directly and through any eventual children;
and also that in reality, in most cases, it is the man who decides the prerequisites
or conditions for living together. All this does not necessarily mean that the man
is the stronger half if the relationship breaks down, but the man normally finds
himself a new partner much faster than the woman in a parallel situation - for this
there are quite clear figures.
When I argue that the core of male domination now lies in the sexual relationship
itself I am referring not only to intimate couple relationships in a marriage or
cohabitation, but also to a similar unequal exchange of care and pleasure which
occurs between men and women in other contexts - in work, within politics, etc.,
viz individuals and groups.
i ; -4
. ~ ~ r

Towards a ’relative’ dual system theory

As regards the question of a single or double system, I would first say that Young’s
and others’ demand for a total theory is unreasonable. I think that at least Young’s
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motive for asserting a total perspective is more political than scientific. She often
mixes political and scientific arguments, i.e. she underpins theoretical standpoints
with political arguments which I consider completely untenable. Generally, I do
not think that society’s various conflicts and oppositions all share the same cause.
What then is the position as regards Hartmann’s dual system theory? In contrast
to standard classic Marxist theoreticians, Hartmann claims that ‘... capital and
private property do not cause the oppression of women as women 2’ But men
as wage earners, husbands and fathers gain by women’s less favourable position on
the labour market, and take advantage of their work and service in the home. And
in an unholy alliance with men subordinated by class, capitalists have an interest
in exploiting women as a work force as cheaply as possible.
Thus Hartmann makes no clear distinction between her two systems, even though
in some of her formulations it may sound as if she does. The result of this is that it
is not clear what actually ’causes the oppression of women as women’. I think this
vagueness is inbuilt, since she sees the purpose of the theory as explaining both
systems simultaneously, which leads to a dead end, not because knowledge is still
incomplete, but because it is m principle an impossible route to take. However,
despite this I advocate a kind of dual system idea, but one which is relative. In the
following I shall explain something of what I mean by this expression.
At the same time as we focus upon the mechanisms of unequal sexual power, we
should pay attention to how life is for women and men as members of different
social classes, since sexual life always exists in definite socio-economic contexts.
But the crux of the theoretical concept, the core of the explanation has to do with
gender - women and men - regardless of class. On the other hand, only certain
extremely ’thin’ or diluted aspects can be encompassed by this core. Preliminarily,
I would offer the following brief formulation : prevailing social norms, accompanying
us from birth and constantly in effect around and in us, say that men not only have
the right to women’s love, care and devotion, but also that they have the right to
give vent to their need for women and the freedom to take for themselves. Women,
on the other hand, have the nght to freely give of themselves, but a very limited

legitimate freedom to take for themselves. Thus men can continually appropriate
significantly more of women’s life force and capacity than they themselves give
back to women. Men can build themselves up as powerful social beings and continue
to dominate women through their constant accumulation of the existential forces
taken and received from women. 21 If capital is accumulated alienated labor,
male authority is accumulated alienated love. Exactly how this works can vary
greatly in both individuals and different social classes, but this variation does not
invalidate the theory. The problem is an empirical one, i.e. the theory must be
anchored in studies of how these sexual processes vary. And such testing must be
done with the help of more concrete models.
Equally, a theory of gender cannot be proffered as a logical consequence of
a theory of class. Gender differences must be seen as empirical and historical

generalizations to the degree that they can be proved to exist.

Therefore when we work with a theory of sexual relations we must assume that
in reality they are influenced by class, and a theory of class relations must openly
admit that these relations are sexually differentiated. But the core of the theory must
concern either the one or other, not both gender and class at the same time. In a

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theoryin which gender is the pivotal point, questions of class are only of relative
significance ;
in a theory where class is the point of departure, questions of gender
become only relative. ,.. < ;.
>

~ .
&dquo;

Explanation of today ’s male authority as political theory

Finally, a few remarks about ’politics’, ’power’ and ’authority’, concepts included
in my introductory remarks but not mentioned since. What do we gain by defining
inequality in sexual relations as a matter of political power relationships? Why do
I wish to define today’s patriarchy as a political system and not, which is more
common, in primarily ideological, psycho-social or economic terms? And what do
I mean when I say that women are not totally powerless, but that they lack
authority? These questions cannot be answered briefly, since politics and power
are among the most complicated and contested concepts in the whole of political
science. But, having said A, we can also say B - even though we cannot go through
the whole alphabet.
My wish to use ’political’ as a basic determinant has to do with my assertion of
conceiving the sex/gender system as a comparatively independent feature of society,
and one which has only a relative connection with economy, for example. Thus we
have here a conception of society which says that every society rests upon and
grows out of a two-fold material base: production of those things we need for our
existence, and the production of us ourselves, for we also need each other as human
beings to ’live off and with. Both of these relatively independent processes of
production are sustained by unequal power relationships, and both can, supported
by arguments which cannot be developed in more detail here, be called political.
There is a clear tendency among those feminist researchers who use the other
determinants mentioned above to see inequalities in sexual life as more or less a
direct consequence of the economic system, and they ascribe very little causality to
sexual relations themselves. In my opinion we should study what happens in the
living relationship between women and men, what women and men do together in
all the various social contexts. Questioning the effects of the economy and upbnng-
ing on individual women and men is not sufficient, which is not to say that
these aspects are unimportant - they set limits, provide a framework, structure
possibilities. But in each instance, people themselves determine how they will
handle the possibilities.
We need the designation ’political’ to denote a comprehensive characteristic of
male domination. An example: in Feminist and Materialism ( 1978) Annette Kuhn
writes that patriarchy is a structure which unites property relationships and psy-
chological relationships, and notes that patriarchy seems relatively autonomous
within the family. 27 This may be true, but my reaction is that such descriptions of
patriarchy are incomplete. The battering of women and rape are examples of actions
which are insufficiently described by the terms ’psychological’ or ’economic’. Rather
it is a question of a complex and tangible struggle over who is master of the situation,
who has the power to decide who is/does and/gets what, rahen and how. If ’politics’
has any particular core of significance it is about a field of power for wills and the
consequences of will-power, where it is determined how we are with each other.
Sex/gender relations constitute one such relatively independent field of power.
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 Disputes often arise over the question whether women have a lot of power,
little power or no power at all. I shall not attempt to sort this out in any conclusive
way, but a certain degree of clarity can be achieved if we divide the concept of
power into ’influence’ and ’authon*ty’.2’ The differences between the two terms are
that authonty means open acknowledgement, i.e. legitimate power, while influence
means effect, or power which can exist but is not always openly recognized. We
women have a fair amount of influence m various areas, and we do not always face

opposition when we want to increase our influence, especially if we hide the fact
that we are women as much as possible. It is mainly when we demand authority as
female human beings that opposition arises - ’women’s voices are not appropriate
for the pulpit’ according to one argument against female clergy in a Swedish
investigation a few decades ago.
’

The politics of gender and established political theory

Does the political theory of sex/gender being developed in this essay have any
significance for and connection to established political theories - i.e. those theor-
etical constructions which are meant to describe and explain political life in the
sense that we usually ascribe to the phrase? Very generally I would say that the

investigation of society as a complex political system based upon sexual conflicts,

class conflicts and other cleavage bases will successively come to challenge and
transform more and more aspects of political theory and philosophy. One need
only look in a few recent books and journals to understand that this process is in
full swing and developing along several different lines. 29
To look at one area more concretely, I have argued m other contexts that
traditional research on political behaviour has landed in a cul-de-sac when it
comes to explaining differences in the patterns of women’s and men’s political

participation. 30 The large gender difference in participation in the political elite and
in society’s organs of power are, as is known, particularly striking. But in those
instances where the focus of study has been the absence of women in the organs of
power, and/or when present, their difficulties in asserting themselves, little energy
has gone to explaining the problem. (In general, the explanatory variables, or
rather, the social contexts of political behaviour, regardless of whether they refer
to choice of political party, views on political questions or participation in decision-
making bodies, are often a weak link in modern political science research.) The
last 15 or 20 years of feminist research has prepared the ground for the disappearance
of indifference to gender problems and the frequent frivolous attitudes to questions
that are raised.
The above sketch of an explanation of our society’s gender-political structuring
constitutes an example of the type of basic theory formation that has up to now
been very rare in modern political science. ’Who/is, does and/gets what, when and
how’ in the ’authoritative allocation of valued things’ is in fact decided on several
different levels, and in gender-structured, class-structured, and other ’fields of
action’. ~’
Aristotle, one of the mentors of Western political thought, explained and legi-
timized sexual hierarchy in society by using the image of light and beautiful male
seminal fluid carrying society’s higher formative sensibilities (with some men higher

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than with others). Women’s dark menstrual blood, on the other hand, indicated
that their defining element was pregnant with massive chaos.3‘ However, he also
claimed that the essence of politics was the relations between equals. No one today
takes Aristotle‘s theories of the sexes seriously scientifically, yet there is the risk
that similar ideas continue to exist on more obscure levels. However, let us use his
political notion as a point of departure and as a goal: that the good society requires
that its members are equal, and that they ’alternate bemg the leaders and the led’.
Let us end with a quote from D. H. Lawrence, and in the future hope we can
smile in amusement at his words in much the same way as we today smile at
Aristotle’s gender theory. However, at present we are compelled to admit to the
truth of Lawrence’s words:
Man is willing to accept woman as an equal, as a man m skirts, as an angel, a devil, a
baby-face, a machine, an instrument, a bosom, a womb, a pair of legs, a servant, an
encyclopedia, an ideal or an obscemty; the only thmg he won’t accept her as is a human
bemg, a real human bemg of the female sex
’ ’ ’

. &dquo; .
!:.,
,-
., _ ;. = .1.

Notes
1 The terminological and conceptual problems of patriarchy are discussed in more detail in
A. G. J&oacute;nasd&oacute;ttir (1984), pp. 115 ff. The problems include the question whether’patriarchy’
can be used as a term for present-day male domination or if it should be confined to father-
domination prevailing in the past. G. Rubin (1975), for example, prefers the latter as does
E. Fox-Genovese (1982). The radical feminists like Kate Millet (1970) launched the
expression ’patnarchy’ at the end of the 1960s, giving it a new significance, i e roughly,
the social dominance of men over women and in comparison with women. Another
problem concerns whether the systematic character and the relative autonomy which
’patriarchy’ confers to male dominance and the oppression of women are theoretically and
empirically justifiable This is a point made by increasing numbers of feminist researchers
who accept the concept, while others, e g. M Barrett (1980). reject the concept of
patriarchy on just these grounds.
2 Re differences of opinion about the origins of patriarchy, or as I have termed it, the
anthropological question, cf. J&oacute;nasd&oacute;ttir, op. cit., pp. 129-134.
3 For a closer reading of the historical question concerning patriarchy, see ibid., pp. 134-
140.
4 The theoretical issue is dealt with in ibid , pp 140 ff.
5 Ibid., pp. 114 ff. and pp. 129 ff.; comp. notes 1-4 above.
6 With the question ’Why has the sex/gender system become visible only now?’ Sandra
Harding ( 1983) underlines the gender system’s historical changeability and its uniqueness
today, and suggests that its specific visibility today is due to the women’s movement’s
’discovery’ of a particular femist perspective.
7 Mitchell (1971), pp. 86.
8 In all academic subjects criticism has resulted in a number of books and articles. I would
only mention here a few examples from political science and political sociology of works
which are either wholly or in part critical of the subject: K Boals (1975); S Bourque/J.
Grossholtz (1974); B. Caroll (1979) and (1980); D Dahlerup (1974); J B Elshtain (1974);
J. Evans (1980); M Goot/E Reid (1975); B Halsaa-Albrektsen (1977); G Hedlund-
Ruth/A. J&oacute;nasd&oacute;ttir (1981); J. Jaquette, ed., (1974); J. Lovenduski (1981); M. Shanley/
V. Schuck (1975).
9 Friedan (1963); de Beauvoir (1949/1972).
10 Re Parson’s work, see especially Essays in Sociological Theory (1954) and Parsons/Bales,
Family Socialization and Interaction Process (1956). For a feminist critique of Parsons,
see e.g. Mitchell, op. cit., pp. 104 ff.; A. M. Berg (1977); V. Beechey (1978).

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11 Mitchell, ibid., p. 92.
12 Jaggar (1983) p. 124.
13 For the sake of clarity, the directions in feminist theory to which I do not align myself
should also be mentioned Using Jaggar’s (ibid.) divisions into liberal feminism, Marxist
feminism, radical feminism and socialist feminism, it is the first three I do not follow.
14 Karl Marx (1859/1977). p. 389.
15 Several feminist researchers have pointed out that the division of work according to gender
or, rather, gender-determined social practice (the concept ’division of work according to
gender’ is usually used in a very wide sense) affects women and men not only in terms of
their psychology and attitudes, but also physically - e.g. muscle strength, how we move,
even ability to breast feed! For more material on this, see e.g. Jaggar, op. cit , p. 126;
Cockburn (1981). pp. 41-58, and Cockburn (1983).
16 This quote from Bacon’s essay has been taken from the excerpt included in Agonito (1977).
pp 93 ff.
17 Gilligan’s book (1982) has received a great deal of notice both inside and outside the US.
For example, the journal Social Research devoted a whole theme issue to it (Vol. 50:3,
1983). Briefly, Gilligan finds that women tend to develop another moral philosophy and
idea of justice than men do. Women’s moral ideas tend to circulate around responsibility
and caring for others more than around formal principles of justice. The traditional way
of interpreting similar observations has been from a theory of stages of human moral
development in which women’s morals have been relegated to a lower stage - women
seldom if ever reaching the highest stage. Gilligan questions this ranking into ’higher’ and
’lower’. In her article. "’The Disorder of Women’" Women. Love and the Sense of Justice’
(1980), Carol Pateman shows that the idea that women in principle lark a consciousness
of justice has existed for a long time in political philosophy. For instance, according to
Rousseau and Hegel this means basically that women comprise a lethal threat to the state
Hegel claimed that women were ’the enemy that the state creates for itself within its own
walls’ (Pateman, ibid., p. 29) The idea of the withering away of the state has obviously
several layers of meaning!
18 Friedrich Engels (1884/1972), pp. 71-72.
19 In addition to Mitchell (1974), who makes use of Freud’s own core theories, I refer here
mainly to the feminist ’object rotation’ theonsts like N. Chodorow (1978) and others.
20 See e.g. Barrett, op. cit.; F. Haug (ed.) (1983); A Kuhn (1978).
21 J&oacute;nasd&oacute;ttir, op cit., p 117, note 2 and pp 37 ff
22 H. Hartmann (1981), (1979/1981). I Young (1980) and (1981)
23 ’The Theory Which Does Not Exist’ Kvinnovetenskaplig tidskrift, No. 1 (1980).
24 I have not done any systematic investigations here. It would be interesting if literature
researchers tried to analyse fiction with the help of these ideas A literary critic and feminist
recently wrote to me that for example Sven Lindqvist’s En gift mans dagbok (A Married
Man’s Diary) and En alskares dagbok (A Lover’s Diary), and Sun Axelsson’s auto-
biographical books could be interesting to study from this perspective. Other examples
could be Praxis by Fay Weldon and last but not least the clear, powerful depictions in
Joyce Carol Oate’s Do With Me What You Will.
25 Hartmann (1981), p. 5.
26 For a closer examination of how ’appropriation’ can be understood, see my own paper
(1985).
27 Kuhn, op. cit., p. 42.
28 See J&oacute;nasd&oacute;ttir (1984), p 131 and note 2, same page.
29 Cf. references in other notes, especially note 8 above. Also N Hartsock (1983); H. Hernes
(1982); J&oacute;nasd&oacute;ttir (1985b); G Lloyd (1984); C. Pateman (in Benn/Gaus, eds., 1983
and Duncan ed., 1983); V. Sapiro (1981, 1983; 1979); J Siltanen/M Stanworth (1984); J.
H. Stiehm, ed. (1984).
30 J&oacute;nasd&oacute;ttir (Bastad (1980), p. 5) and Hedlund-Ruth/Jonasdottir. op cit., pp 16-37
31 Comp Laswell’s and Easton’s well-known definitions of politics.
32 See e.g. Eduards/Gunneng (1983).
33 From R. Morgan (1970), p. 633.

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