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Books
Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism by Kristen R. Ghodsee
Amber Edwards surveys the position of women under socialism.
Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism is a short and snappy discussion of how the quality of women’s lives could be improved if society were rebuilt on some of the principles underpinning state socialism. Kristen Ghodsee, Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, argues that unregulated capitalism is bad for women, and that by learning from the history of socialism we can create a more egalitarian path to our collective future. To make her argument she explores the socialisation of women in the workplace, considers childbearing from a social and economic viewpoint, and discusses women in leadership, women as citizens, and, in reference to the title, women’s sexuality.
She begins by examining sexuality in popular culture, highlighting that when we turn on the TV or open a magazine we are often immediately presented with sexualised images. This demonstrates capitalism’s tendency to commodify sexuality, women’s bodies, and basic human emotions, thus normalising this behavior and helping to create unequal conditions for women.
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