By Raha Boshra
As modern society progresses, Pride and Capitalism go hand in hand as much as they did throughout its history. From companies creating, promoting, and selling Pride-themed products in June, to Gay and/or lesbian bars. As explained by John D’Emilio, for gay men and lesbians, the 1970s were years of significant achievement, but in the 1980s, however, with the resurgence of an active right wing, gay men and lesbians face the future warily (D’Emilio).
There is a huge focus on the “nuclear family” in this article, and how it affects both capitalism and the LGBTQ+ community. The expansion of capital and the spread of wage labor have led to a profound transformation in the structure and functions of the nuclear family, the ideology of family life, and the meaning of heterosexual relations. It is these changes in the family that are most directly linked to the appearance of a collective gay life (D’Emilio).
For example, during the 17th century, white colonists in New England established villages and lived a life revolving around a household economy, including families that were self-sufficient, independent, and patriarchal. The male head of the household owned land that was farmed by men, women, and children within the family. The home was a workplace where women processed raw farm products into food for daily consumption, where they made clothing, soap, and candles, and where husbands, wives, and children worked together to produce the goods they consumed (D’Emilio). However, by the 19th century, this system in families was in decline. The family production was no longer a viable option, as they were being drawn out of the largely self-sufficient household economy of the colonial era into a capitalist system of free labor. With the rise of wage labor in replacement, the meaning of sexuality and heterosexual relationships began to change as well.
By the end of the 19th century, a class of men and women existed who recognized their erotic interest in their own sex, saw it as a trait that set them apart from the majority, and sought others like themselves. These early gay lives came from a wide social spectrum: civil servants and business executives, department store clerks and college professors, factory operatives, ministers, lawyers, cooks, domestics, hoboes, and the idle rich; men and women, black and white, immigrant and native-born (D’Emilio). As this period began, gays and lesbians began to find ways to connect and meet each other. This was already happening as in the early 20th century, gay bars were on the rise. Gay men were in cruising areas such as Riverside Drive in New York City and Lafayette Park in Washington. Lesbians formed literary societies and private social clubs. Some working-class women ‘passed’ as men to obtain better-paying jobs and lived with other women, forming lesbian couples who appeared to the world as husband and wife (D’Emilio).
As these were happening, doctors began developing theories on homosexuality and described it as a condition, something that was inherent in a person, a part of his or her ‘nature’. These theories did not represent scientific breakthroughs, elucidations of previously undiscovered areas of knowledge; rather, they were an ideological response to a new way of organizing one’s personal life. The popularization of the medical model, in turn, affected the consciousness of the women and men who experienced homosexual desire, so that they came to define themselves through their erotic life (D’Emilio).
Capitalism has created the material conditions for homosexual desire to express itself as a central component of some individuals’ lives; now, our political movements are changing consciousness, creating the ideological conditions that make it easier for people to make that choice (D’Emilio). These changes are correlated to the history of homosexuality and the “nuclear family”. Today, capitalism targets both of these concepts hand in hand.
Reference:
D’Emilio, J. Capitalism and Gay Identity. [PDF] /courses/195000/files/30376725
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