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How does capitalism control our naturalness through family structures?
In contemporary society, family structures and our gender roles seem to be taken for granted. However, how these structures shape our naturalness is an issue that requires in-depth consideration. According to the theory of fringe thinker Wilhelm Reich, capitalist society has invisibly manipulated and restricted human nature through the establishment and strengthening of the family system, and thus formed a desire for sexual desire. Suppression and distortion.
Insufficient natural sexual satisfaction can lead to sexual neurosis, because this suppression of sexual desire is closely related to the social system.
Leich mentioned in his book "Sexuality in the Cultural Struggle" (Die Sexualität im Kulturkampf) that the family, as an economic and social unit, bears the important responsibility of protecting the capitalist economic structure. The patriarchal system in the family is a concrete manifestation of its economic advantages, because such a structure strengthens men's economic dominance in the family and promotes women's economic dependence. Such a structure allows capitalism to continue to operate because men’s economic labor does not need to bear the additional expenses of the family, ultimately resulting in economic gains for capitalist society.
Her unpaid housework still leads to her husband's economic empowerment in the workplace.
This family structure is not only an economic arrangement, but also a reinforcement of social gender roles. For children, the authority structure of the family encourages them to imitate their parents' gender roles and perpetuate gender inequality. This results in naturalness not only being suppressed, but also being reorganized into something that conforms to social expectations. Leahy believed that this repression of sexual desire produced sexual neurosis, which in turn supported the patriarchal and capitalist systems to some extent.
This relationship is a cyclical one that continually enhances the power of the authoritarian state, whether he is aware of the motivation or not.
Leich also mentioned in the book that the long-standing moral values in capitalist society, especially the repression of sex and the "forced nature" of marriage, have caused young people to be under great pressure in terms of sex. Such a concept of marriage regards sexual desire as blasphemous and buries it deeply in people's subconscious, thereby becoming a burden.
Leich is concerned that the lack of adequate sex education and sexual freedom prevents young people from understanding their sexual needs or seeking relevant support and information. This situation illustrates the growing illusion in our society that we talk big but do little when it comes to sex.
So-called "sex education" often deceptively focuses only on biology, hiding the feelings of arousal that teenagers truly crave in their hearts.
Such a situation leads to more sexual repression, supplemented by unscientific justifications, and these justification channels make sexual desire that should be understood and accepted become a source of guilt. Leahy pointed out that this also caused many people to bear unnecessary psychological pressure, causing the emergence of new neuroses.
Cross-cultural research by sociologists such as Bronisław Malinowski and others has shown that in many societies where there is no obvious patriarchal ideology, sex is not viewed in this way. Repression, which makes us have to doubt the necessity and rationality of the current social family structure.
Why is the naturalness of individuals lost in such a social structure? Is authoritative family structure really the only way to maintain social stability? Or is our repression nothing more than an illusion maintained by capitalism? In the process of pursuing sexual liberation, must we reconstruct or even overthrow our family model to truly realize human nature and freedom?
