Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism Book Summary - Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism Book explained in key points

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Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism summary

Name: Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism
Rating: 3.7 (39 reviews)
Author: Kristen Ghodsee

Kristen Ghodsee

And Other Arguments for Economic Independence

3.7 (39 ratings)

31 mins

Topics

Socialism & Capitalist Critique Gender & Sexuality Sex The Cold War

Table of Contents

Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism
Summary of 11 key ideas

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What’s in it for me? Learn why women can have better lives under socialism.

In recent years, more and more people have been gravitating toward the idea of socialism. Whether or not you’re one of them, it’s easy to see the appeal, especially in today’s turbulent economic climate.

According to its advocates, socialism would solve a lot of the problems that currently plague us as a society, such as unemployment and economic inequality. They also claim it would lead to better healthcare, education, and many other things.

But better sex for women? Even if you’re a fan of socialism, this might seem like a bit of a stretch. What does one thing have to do with the other?

Well, that’s part of what these blinks are about – but sex is just the tip of the iceberg. As we’ll see, socialism could make women’s lives better in a wide range of areas – from the romantic realm to the professional domain and many places in between.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why socialism leads to more equality between men and women;
how capitalism benefits from the inequality of women; and
why women do, in fact, have better sex under socialism.

“Socialism” can mean state socialism or democratic socialism, and we can learn from one while aiming for the other.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “socialism?” Is it a nightmarish, totalitarian regime, like something out of a dystopian novel? An imaginary utopia where everyone is free and happy? A Cold War-era state like East Germany? Or a present-day country like Denmark?

The word “socialism” can refer to all of these things and more, so before we dive into an argument in favor of it, let’s first clarify what we mean by it.

The key message here is: “Socialism” can mean state socialism or democratic socialism, and we can learn from one while aiming for the other.

People can dream up any society they want and call it “socialist,” but as far as real socialist societies go, these have historically come in two basic varieties. First up, we have state socialism. The most obvious examples are the USSR and the other Eastern and Central European countries that identified themselves as “Communist” states during the Cold War. Collectively known as the Eastern Bloc, they included Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and East Germany.

While they differed in many ways and evolved over time, these societies shared some key traits. Each of them was a one-party, authoritarian state that limited people’s political freedom and controlled the economy through state-run enterprises and top-down economic planning.

In contrast, there’s democratic socialism, which we can see at work in the contemporary Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Unlike state socialism, these countries have democratic governments, with multiple political parties competing in free and fair elections. Not only do they respect their citizens’ political rights, but they go even further by trying to ensure that everyone enjoys a decent standard of living. To do that, they have generous social welfare systems, which help people meet their needs in areas such as housing, healthcare, and education.

The argument we’re going to be looking at is essentially advocating for democratic socialism, not state socialism. That being said, there are also many lessons we can learn from the latter.

Yes, the USSR and Eastern Bloc countries had many shortcomings, and they did many horrible things: labor camps, secret police, food shortages, you name it. But, as we’ll see, they also had some positive aspects, especially in the area of advancing women’s rights. In designing policies for the future of our own societies, we can take the good things from state socialism while leaving behind the bad.

Under state socialism, women benefited from programs and policies that promoted their inclusion in the economy.

The idea that the USSR and Eastern Bloc did anything positive runs directly counter to the narratives most of us have grown up with. If there’s one message we’ve received about them from our history teachers, politicians, and countless books, tv shows, and movies, it’s that state socialism was bad. Really bad. End of story.

But in reality, that’s only part of the story. In this blink, we’re going to look at the other side of it: some of the good things that happened under state socialism – particularly for women. The point isn’t to deny or excuse the bad things; it’s simply to round out the picture that most of us have formed about the USSR and Eastern Bloc.

Under capitalism, statistical discrimination leads to women being paid less than men on average.

Of course, not all women have heterosexual partnerships, and many women don’t become mothers. As for those who fit both bills, many of them find ways of returning to work shortly after childbirth, even in the most capitalistic societies. Some of them can afford private childcare, and others have family members who can look after their kids.

However, the fact remains that the demands of motherhood lead many women to drop out of the workforce and become economically dependent on men to one degree or another. And due to a phenomenon called statistical discrimination, this has important consequences for all women, regardless of whether they have children or live in heterosexual relationships.

Work disruptions and double burdens also contribute to women’s economic situations under capitalism.

The more you study any social phenomenon, the more you usually end up coming to the same conclusion: it’s complicated. Reality is complex, and there’s usually not a single, simple explanation for anything. Instead, there’s a bunch of overlapping explanations that you have to piece together.

The same is true of the economic situation of women living in capitalist societies. To round out our account of this, let’s take a look at some more explanations as to why women get the short end of the economic stick.

Under capitalism, mothers either have to keep working, or suffer the consequences of the résumé gap.

In the previous blink, our hypothetical mother was “lucky” enough to be able to afford private daycare for her child, which enabled her to go back to work. The word “lucky” is ironic here, because paying for private daycare can end up being a pretty raw deal for working mothers.

Unfortunately, the alternative is to stop working, which leads to yet another raw deal. The end result is that mothers end up between a rock and a hard place after giving birth. And the reason for this boils down to two words: résumé gap.

Neoliberalism forces people to fend for themselves, which puts women at a disadvantage.

What would you do if you were Leslie? Work for 70 cents of take-home pay per month? Or quit your job and suffer the consequences of losing momentum in your career, having a gap in your résumé, and perhaps becoming economically dependent on your partner?

It’s a pretty tough choice. Both of the options are unfair. And that’s precisely the point: this isn’t a choice that women should have to make. But under capitalism, it’s one that women routinely face. And this time, the reason boils down to one word: neoliberalism.

Leaving people vulnerable to market forces makes women vulnerable to gender discrimination.

If you remember anything from your high school or college economics classes, one phrase is probably lodged in your brain more than any other: the law of supply and demand. As advocates of capitalism never get tired of telling us, this is one of the central features of a free-market economy.

Now, when we’re talking about everyday commodities, the law of supply and demand can seem rather innocuous. For example, if the demand for hats goes down and the supply stays constant, the price of hats will tend to go down as well, leading to a decrease in supply. The market adjusts, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Quotas have enabled democratic socialist countries to ensure that women are equally represented in positions of power.

Whatever else you want to say about them, you can’t deny that the USSR and Eastern Bloc countries made a lot of progress in terms of integrating women into their workforces. The statistics speak for themselves.

In 1975, for example, women accounted for 49.7 percent of the Soviet workforce. By contrast, in North America, that percentage was only 37.4. Drilling down into specific industries, the numbers get even more impressive. For instance, by 1989, 50 percent of all engineering and technical specialists in the USSR were women.

Neoliberal capitalism benefits from women doing unpaid care-work.

Imagine living in a democratic socialist society where all your basic needs are guaranteed to be met. Your government makes sure you have access to things like healthcare, higher education, and decently paid jobs. It can also help you out with things like housing, transportation, and food. And if you have a child, you can enjoy paid parental leave or state-funded childcare.

Now take all of those things away. Welcome to neoliberalism. Unless you’re rich, it stinks in a lot of ways – especially if you’re a woman, and particularly if you’re a mother. And unfortunately, this is a feature of the system, not a bug.

Women’s unequal status under neoliberal capitalism has a negative impact on their relationships with heterosexual partners.

“Wait a minute,” you might be thinking. “I thought these blinks were going to be about women having better sex. But now we’re on the second-to-last blink, and I haven’t heard anything about it yet. What’s all of this stuff got to do with sex?”

Well, a lot. In a healthy relationship, partners meet each other as equals. But under neoliberalism, that’s a hard thing to do if you’re a heterosexual woman in a relationship with a man. Chances are, you won’t be equals. And that will have negative consequences on many aspects of your relationship, including your sex life.

Studies show that women had better sex in socialist East Germany than capitalist West Germany.

Okay, that was just a hypothetical example that we analyzed in the previous blink. But for many women, it’s a real experience. And there’s empirical data to back up the basic claim at issue, which is that inequality between men and women has negative impacts on their romantic relationships.

Some of this data comes from some surprising sources – and, as you’ll see, they’re a fitting topic on which to end these blinks.

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What is Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism about?

Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism (2018) makes an argument that’s even more provocative than its title suggests. More than just better sex, it claims that women have better lives in general under socialism. To prove this claim, it compares and contrasts women’s lives under state socialism, democratic socialism, and neoliberal capitalism.

Who should read Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism?

Socialists wanting ammunition for their next argument
Capitalists wanting food for thought
Women and men wanting a fresh take on gender equality

About the Author

Kristen R. Ghodsee is a professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She has conducted extensive research on gender, socialism, and post-socialist life in Eastern Europe, and has written six scholarly books on these topics. She has also written articles and essays for publications such as The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Jacobin, and Dissent.

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