What was Marx's view of women? To work or not to work?

Question:This might be a stupid question, but I am fed up with reading Marx.... and I understand that Engles thought that women were to be more respected and should not simply stay home with a family, but how about Marx? He hardly mensions it.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: This might be a stupid question, but I am fed up with reading Marx.... and I understand that Engles thought that women were to be more respected and should not simply stay home with a family, but how about Marx? He hardly mensions it.

You're right. He doesn't mention it much at all.

His main argument seems mostly to be against treating women as property. In any wise. To quote (from the Communist Manifesto):

"The bourgeois sees his wife a mere instrument of production. He hears that the instruments of production are to be exploited in common, and, naturally, can come to no other conclusion that the lot of being common to all will likewise fall to the women. He has not even a suspicion that the real point aimed at is to do away with the status of women as mere instruments of production."

In other words, he seems most interested in doing away with most restrictions on women altogether. The slant of this suggests that he doesn't seem to think women should be bound to men or even feel that they NEED to be.

He sees marriage and prostitution as generally just symptoms of capitalism. If the latter were eliminated, so too would be the former. If you can't buy sex or legally obligate a woman to stay in the house, then she'll only do it when she wants to.

Of course, because he said so little about women, there is some dispute about the actual content of what he meant by it. There is even a branch of feminism that tries to further their ends by getting Marxism instituted.

Link below has many other references. Hope that helps!