Capitalism - a reaction to yet also an embrace of?
I’m trying to understand whether feminism is both a reaction to capitalism and, in some ways, supportive of it.
I did some searching before posting this, but honestly I couldn’t fully make sense of the older discussions because people seemed to be using “feminism” to mean very different things.
For example, when I was coming of age in the 2010s, there was a huge “boss babe” / “lean in” / “have it all” vibe that seemed very tied to career success, ambition, executive leadership, etc. (aka capitalism). Also this may have been more of a “white feminist” perspective maybe, but it felt VERY compatible with, if not outwardly pro-capitalist, to me.
Over the last decade though, the tone feels like it’s shifted more toward criticizing capitalism, consumerism, exploitation, unpaid labor, and hustle culture. But I also can’t tell how much of that is just my own perspective changing as I get older and interact less with younger people.
So I’m a little confused. A lot of the feminist goals I grew up hearing about, like equal pay, workplace protections, and stopping sexual harassment, seem focused on helping women participate equally in the workforce and economy, which seems at least somewhat pro-capitalist. But at the same time, I also see many feminists criticizing capitalism itself.
I’m also unclear if what I’m actually seeing is more about “progressivism” in general, and feminism just gets wrapped into that larger political/cultural tent.
I’m totally open to the answer being “it’s a spectrum,” but is there a generally accepted place where modern feminism falls when it comes to capitalism? Or are these just different branches of feminism that have always existed?
I'm also curious if this skews somewhat by age - so I'd be curious to know if people in their 20s have a very different outlook from people who are older.
Thanks and have a wonderful Monday.