Woman and Socialism

by August Bebel

• [Chapter I.]—The Position of Woman in Primeval Society 9
  • [1.] Chief Epochs of Primeval History 9
  • [2.] Family Forms 14
  • [3.] The Matriarchate 20
• [Chapter II.]—Conflict between Matriarchate and Patriarchate 28
  • [1.] Rise of the Patriarchate 28
  • [2.] Traces of the Matriarchate in Greek Myths and Dramas 34
  • [3.] Legitimate Wives and Courtesans in Athens 37
  • [4.] Remnants of the Matriarchate in the Customs of Various Nations 44
  • [5.] Rise of the State—Dissolution of the Gens in Rome 50
• [Chapter III.]—Christianity 56
• [Chapter IV.]—Woman in the Mediaeval Age 63
  • [1.] The Position of Women among the Germans 63
  • [2.] Feudalism and the Right of the First Night 66
  • [3.] The Rise of Cities—Monastic Affairs—Prostitution 69
  • [4.] Knighthood and the Veneration of Women 75
• [Chapter V.]—The Reformation 78
  • [1.] Luther 78
  • [2.] Results of the Reformation—The Thirty Years’ War 83
• [Chapter VI.]—The Eighteenth Century 88
  • [1.] Court Life in Germany 88
  • [2.] Commercialism and the New Marriage Laws 90
  • [3.] The French Revolution and the Rise of Industry 93

WOMAN AT THE PRESENT DAY.

• [Chapter VII.]—Woman as a Sex Being 96
  • [1.] The Sexual Impulse 96
  • [2.] Celibacy and the Frequency of Suicide 100
• [Chapter VIII.]—Modern Marriage 104
  • [1.] Marriage as a Profession 104
  • [2.] Decline of the Birthrate 106
  • [3.] Mercenary Marriage and the Matrimonial Market 110
• [Chapter IX.]—Disruption of the Family 116
  • [1.] Increase of Divorce 116
  • [2.] Bourgeois and Proletarian Marriage 124
• [Chapter X.]—Marriage as a Means of Support 132
  • [1.] Decline of the Marriage Rate 132
  • [2.] Infanticide and Abortion 135
  • [3.] Education for Marriage 140
  • [4.] The Misery of Present Day Marriages 147
• [Chapter XI.]—The Chances of Matrimony 153
  • [1.] The Numerical Proportion of the Sexes 153
  • [2.] Obstacles to Marriage—The Excess of Women 164
• [Chapter XII.]—Prostitution a Necessary Social Institution of Bourgeois Society 174
  • [1.] Prostitution and Society 174
  • [2.] Prostitution and the State 178
  • [3.] The White Slave Trade 188
  • [4.] The Increase of Prostitution—Illegitimate Motherhood 193
  • [5.] Crimes Against Morality and Sexual Diseases 204
• [Chapter XIII.]—Woman in Industry 209
  • [1.] Development and Extension of Female Labor 209
  • [2.] Factory Work of Married Women—Sweatshop Labor and Dangerous Occupations 222
• [Chapter XIV.]—The Struggle of Women for Education 233
  • [1.] The Revolution in Domestic Life 233
  • [2.] The Intellectual Abilities of Women 239
  • [3.] Differences in Physical and Mental Qualities of Man and Woman 245
  • [4.] Darwinism and the Condition of Society 253
  • [5.] Woman and the Learned Professions 258
• [Chapter XV.]—The Legal Status of Women 272
  • [1.] The Struggle for Equality Before the Law 272
  • [2.] The Struggle for Political Equality 280

THE STATE AND SOCIETY.

• [Chapter XVI.]—The Class-State and the Modern Proletariat 307
  • [1.] Our Public Life 307
  • [2.] Aggravation of Social Extremes 315
• [Chapter XVII.]—The Process of Concentration in Capitalistic Industry 319
  • [1.] The Displacement of Agriculture by Industry 319
  • [2.] Increasing Pauperization—Preponderance of Large Industrial Establishments 323
  • [3.] Concentration of Wealth 333
• [Chapter XVIII.]—Crisis and Competition 338
  • [1.] Causes and Effects of the Crises 338
  • [2.] Intermediate Trade and the Increased Cost of Living 343
• [Chapter XIX.]—The Revolution in Agriculture 347
  • [1.] Transatlantic Competition and Desertion of the Country 347
  • [2.] Peasants and Great Landowners 349
  • [3.] The Contrast Between City and Country 358

THE SOCIALIZATION OF SOCIETY.

• [Chapter XX.]—The Social Revolution 363
  • [1.] The Transformation of Society 363
  • [2.] Expropriation of the Expropriators 366
• [Chapter XXI.]—Fundamental Laws of Socialistic Society 370
  • [1.] Duty to Work of All Able-bodied Persons 370
  • [2.] Harmony of Interests 375
  • [3.] Organization of Labor 380
  • [4.] The Growth of the Productivity of Labor 383
  • [5.] Removal of the Contrast between Mental and Manual Work 392
  • [6.] Increase of Consumption 396
  • [7.] Equal Duty to Work for All 399
  • [8.] Abolition of Trade—Transformation of Traffic 405
• [Chapter XXII.]—Socialism and Agriculture 407
  • [1.] Abolition of the Private Ownership of Land 407
  • [2.] The Amelioration of Land 409
  • [3.] Changed Methods of Farming 414
  • [4.] Agriculture on a Large and Small Scale—Electric Appliances 415
  • [5.] Vine-Culture of the Future 424
  • [6.] Measures to Prevent Exhaustion of the Soil 427
  • [7.] Removal of the Contrast between City and Country 431
• [Chapter XXIII.]—Abolition of the State 434
• [Chapter XXIV.]—The Future of Religion 437
• [Chapter XXV.]—The Socialist System of Education 440
• [Chapter XXVI.]—Literature and Art in Socialistic Society 451
• [Chapter XXVII.]—Free Development of Individuality 455
  • [1.] Freedom from Care 455
  • [2.] Changes in the Methods of Nutrition 457
  • [3.] The Communistic Kitchen 461
  • [4.] Transformation of Domestic Life 463
• [Chapter XXVIII.]—Woman in the Future 466
• [Chapter XXIX.]—Internationality 473
• [Chapter XXX.]—The Question of Population and Socialism 478
  • [1.] Fear of Over-Population 478
  • [2.] Production of Over-Population 481
  • [3.] Poverty and Fecundity 484
  • [4.] Lack of Human Beings and Abundance of Food 487
  • [5.] Social Conditions and Reproductive Ability 494

[Conclusion] 500