UNDERSTANDING WOLPE'S REFLECTION ON GENDER EDUCATION

Ann Marie Wolpe is the first radical feminist who exposed the gendered education and practice of sexual division of women labor. She criticises upon Marx’s perspective in which the social reality of education and social operation is constructed and enforced from the social institutional settings to the people’s daily lives[ family


From a liberal perspective , gendered education and sexual devision of labor result from socialization that forces people to grow up with wrong notions about male and female. According to liberal thinking cultural ideas that restrict people ‘s freedom , to freely choose how to live their lives. Liberal gives focus on changing the ideas and cultural practices by rewriting the school text and reforming legal codes.



On the contrary , Marxist feminist perspective makes a direct link between capitalism and patriarchal subordination of women. In this way, women are exploited class in the capitalist mode of production [as tool, machine, product] .. In families and outside the families women do cheap labor especially as part time workers. Women can be exploited because they are considered as wives and mothers.Marxist thinking too pays less attention on gendered education and women’s sexual division of labour in families and in paid market.



Radical(progressive)feminist perspective: Wolpe argues that gendered education and sexual division of women labour are due to neither ignorance and lack of freedom nor to capitalism , rather it is result of the collective effort of men to dominate and exploit women. The main key problem radical feminist tries find out, is to understand ,how to sustain? And how it results produce and how it might be the ended?



She also focuses how man’s dominance of major social institutions enable women providing lower courses[home-science ,paintings embroidering]. She also manifests the core patriarchal values, norms, beliefs and through which men maintain their dominance. Wolpe criticizes upon Marx’s stereotype thinking about women and paying little focus towards gendered education and sexual division of women’s labor [wage] in domestic field works such as cooking , land farming so and so.In families women do work but they are being paid only shelter and food.



I agree with her views on gendered education . She says that ‘educational system fosters and reinforces the belief the economic success depends essentially on possession of technical and cognitive skills.’ Actually, in families parents mentality do not allow to expense more money over girls education as they do for boys. Moreover , girls are offered lower subjects [non technical] because they are not supposed to show their intelligence in field. They do not receive high-technical or professional education ,rather they pursue arts, home-sciences, embroidering that lead them towards clerical, managerial, receptionist jobs.


Second thing she argues that’ woman’s ambition is tied to her role in marriage, whereas man’s ambition is linked to his occupation’. It is common social concept that woman task is to do domestic works and man task is to earn the money from his business or occupation. Parents usually inculcate in their daughter’s mind that get early marriage and settle the life according to social norms and beliefs.



Again she asserts that ‘educational system offers equal opportunities but unequal use equal opportunities results different actors. It happens because girls get few time for education and they do not get equal time in comparison with boys in order to study for higher education.Due to lack of time and others facilities cause their unequal performance.


Conclusion:
In this way, Wolpe criticizes upon Marxist’s thinking paying too less attention towards gendered education and sexual division of women’s labour in families and in paid labor market. Due to gendered education , women do not get equal opportunities, social status ,prestige and their desired aspirations.