Women and Economics
Also known as Women and Economics – A Study of the Economic Relation Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1898 case that women's economic independence would improve marriage, home and society.
At a glance
Key ideas
Economic dependence, Unpaid work, Professional housework …
See all 5Criticism
Race, Chicago Tribune
See all 2Connections
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Subjection of Women and Charles Darwin
See all 3
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Gilman argues that humans are the only species in which the female depends on the male for survival.
- Women pay for that dependence with domestic work, which has stunted their creative and personal growth.
- She proposes professional housework and child care, and kitchenless houses with cooperative kitchens, so women can work outside the home.
- She held that the vote alone would not bring progress.
Why it matters
- It made Gilman the leading intellectual of the women's movement almost overnight; Jane Addams called it a "masterpiece".
Key facts
- Author
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman1
- Published
- 18981
- Translations
- Seven languages1
- Drew on
- Karl Marx (production at the centre of life), Charles Darwin, Thorstein Veblen, Lester Ward and Edward Bellamy1
Key ideas
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Economic dependence1
Humans are the only species in which the female depends on the male for survival.
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Unpaid work1
Women work longer and harder than most men, and men take credit for human progress.
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Professional housework1
Housekeepers, cooks and cooperative kitchens would free women to join the workforce.
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More than the vote1
Progress shows in legal, social, mental and physical change, not only in the vote.
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Motherhood and work1
Motherhood should not keep a woman from working outside the home.
Criticism
Connections
Links
Sources
Last checked against its sources today
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