Women's lives today would be virtually unrecognisable to previous generations. Women have greater freedom to control their lives and their sexuality than ever before. Ideas about equality are accepted on a mass scale.Yet daily we are bombarded with images of women as sex objects, housewives and mothers. Women face a backlash from the far-right around the world, undermining the gains of the previous decades.
In this classic text, Lindsey German explains the development of women's oppression under capitalism, and examines the various theories that try to explain women's lives. She critiques the theory of patriarchy, which has shaped much feminist thinking. She looks at the patterns of women at work, how the family affects women's lives, and how women have organised to fight for their liberation. With women under attack and the women's movement in disarray, Sex, Class, and Socialism is a crucial contribution to this fight.