Summary of Shulamith Firestone's The Dialectic of Sex

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 Until a certain level of evolution has been reached and technology has developed, to question fundamental biological conditions is insanity. But for the first time in some countries, the preconditions for feminist revolution exist.

#2 The theory of historical materialism was not the complete answer, as later events proved. While it was a brilliant advance over previous historical analysis, it was only a partial reality. It traced the class conflict to its real economic origins, but it did not explain how those origins could be changed.

#3 The assumption that, beneath economics, reality is psycho-sexual is often rejected as ahistorical by those who accept a dialectical materialist view of history. But there is still an untried third alternative: we can attempt to develop a materialist view of history based on sex itself.

#4 The sex dualism is the result of the reproductive functions of men and women being different. The biological family is an inherently unequal power distribution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822520547

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on Shulamith Firestone's The Dialectic of Sex

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Until a certain level of evolution has been reached and technology has developed, to question fundamental biological conditions is insanity. But for the first time in some countries, the preconditions for feminist revolution exist.

#2

The theory of historical materialism was not the complete answer, as later events proved. While it was a brilliant advance over previous historical analysis, it was only a partial reality. It traced the class conflict to its real economic origins, but it did not explain how those origins could be changed.

#3

The assumption that, beneath economics, reality is psycho-sexual is often rejected as ahistorical by those who accept a dialectical materialist view of history. But there is still an untried third alternative: we can attempt to develop a materialist view of history based on sex itself.

#4

The sex dualism is the result of the reproductive functions of men and women being different. The biological family is an inherently unequal power distribution.

#5

The first division of labor led to the discrimination of people based on their biological characteristics. The natural reproductive difference between the sexes led to the first division of labor at the origins of class, as well as providing the paradigm of caste.

#6

The sex class system may have originated in fundamental biological conditions, but this does not guarantee that women and children will be freed once the biological basis of their oppression has been swept away. Instead, the new technology may be used against them to reinforce the entrenched system of exploitation.

#7

Historical materialism is the view that all history can be explained by the division of society into two biological classes for procreative reproduction, and the struggles between these classes.

#8

Freud’s cultural bias does not invalidate