Introduction

Religious wars in Europe, Asia and the Middle East during the Middle Ages, and exploration to the East and the Americas, were all fueled by the expansion of European capitalism which was pitted against the economic forces of the then powerful Islamic empire. Conquest, slavery, and indenture were all likewise fueled by European capitalism. So too were the many European wars from the 15th century onward to World War I and II, in which European powers fought for the right to colonize and rule the world.

European capitalism was backed by colonial armies, and technologies borrowed from the Arabs, but their forces were vastly inferior compared to the armies and pouplation of other nations in Africa, America and Asia. How then were they able to win battle after battle against these larger forces? One secret weapon carried by European armies was diseases to which non-European people had little immunity. Nonetheless, biological warefare and a brutal military were not enough to suppress the active resistance of the vast majority of the world’s population. European capitalists found it imperative to employ ideologies of religion, race, gender, and class as important aspects of their domination and control.

Colonial ideologies of religion, race, gender, and class, are highly diverse and complex issues, with each area of involvement resulting in many different consequences for native peoples the world over. However, the interconnections of these ideologies can be explored by examining their effects on one important social unit, the family.

Historical Roots of Sexism and Capitalism

Women were the first rulers of human families and settlements. Female menstural blood is at the root of all religious sacrifices and rituals which developed throughout the world to honor women’s intimate connection to the earth and the universe. The female centered family lasted for hundreds of thousand of years, and spread from its origins in Africa throughout all the continents. It proved to be the most successful model of all animal groupings.

As human settlements became more stationary and predictable, women became less regarded for their wisdom and intution, and men began to assert control over the family and community. This led to the development of the patriarchal family, or a family rule by men, which became a strong, basic unit of many cultures and communities. Yet, women were still greatly prized for their sexuality and thus became the first commodity traded between men. The domestication of women preceeded the domestication of plants, animals, and armies. The root of (in)-hu(man) "civilization" and capitalism can be traced to the development of the rule of men and the resulting exploitation of women as agricultural laborers, domestic and sex workers, breast feeders, caretakers, and mothers of sons.

From its inception, the patriarchal family plays an important part in the development of European capitalism and colonial policies. The European patriarchal family and culture during serfdom, based on Christian ideology, led to the development of European capitalism as European women’s and children’s labor were coopted and accumulated by European male landowners. This in turn led to early capitalist formations outside the economy of the church/state.

As capitalism developed and expanded into the world, the non-European patriarchal family was viewed as a form of resistance and obstacle by European capitalists who saught to dominate and enslave entire communities and cultures. These non-European families were attacked, broken up, and forced to contribute to the capitalist system. However, the breakup of the non-Euro patriarchal family did not result in the liberation of colonized women, as many would assert, as they were further enslaved under Euro patriarchal capitalism, which continues to dominate the world.

Matriarchal norms and customs under attack in Africa/America/Asia

The patriarchal family unit in Africa was broken up through (i) Euro funded wars to generate captives and refugees, (ii) forced migrations to the coasts, and (iii) the dangerous middle passage across the Atlantic. European capitalist funded wars against matriarchs and female rulers, who were often opposed to slavery, indentureship and colonialization.

Non-Euro women’s ownership of land and subsistence agriculture was in direct competition with the emerging Euro colonial economy and demands for labor. Euro colonial laws recognize only colonialized males as adults, heads of family, and landowners; women and children were dispossed of land and property and became dependents and guadians of colonialized men. This colonial ideology also affected men, as bastards were men who were regarded as not worthy of being claimed as offspring and adults by other men.

Domestic patriarchy under attack during slavery in the Americas

In the Americas, enslaved African families are willfully broken up; mothers and children may be kept together more often, but fathers are less likely to be included in the family on the same plantation. No distinctions is made among enslaved women and men in terms of labor on the plantations or in the Euro master’s house. Enslaved men not allowed to marry enslaved or free women; they are seen as sexual threat to Euro mistress and other Euro women. "Disrespect" of Euro women used often as an excuse to lynch enslaved and free men who are resistant to system.

Enslaved women are sexually exploited by Euro masters as an essential part of their control and domination over enslaved women and men. The "sex-craving" and "immorality" of free African women is used to sexually exploit and lynch those who are resistant to the system. At the same time, enslaved girls’ and women’s freedom is paid for by Euro masters more often than enslaved boys and men, who often serve as their mates or fathers. This is an important form of cooptation of individuals who are privy to many contradictions in the system and potentially very resistant. Also, enslaved women are granted more freedoms than enslaved men to cultivate small gardens, and to travel and market their produce. As a result a few become quite prosperous and began to fund African resistance movements

Despite all this, the patriarchal family was the norm during and after slavery as enslaved and free African women sought out long term relationships with enslaved and free African men, who in turn insisted on female fidelity. The violation of these fidelity relationships by Euro males was often the cause for resistance movements, especially among enslaved African males, which led to the eventual abolishment of slavery

Colonial females oversexualized in relation to Euro females

During the period after slavery, non-Euro women continued to be viewed as inferior to Euro women, and as a result they were not deemed worthy of the various protections afforded to Euro women. Thus women of color could be raped with impunity by any man. Their "sexual cravings resulting from lack of the control by their men," is used as further justification for patriarchal laws limiting the rights of all women.

Women of color became pawns in the resistance movements of African men and Euro women to obtain equal rights in the Euro male dominated state. They were pitted against their race in the stuggle for gender equality and against other women in the stuggle for racial equality. In both cases they stood to lose more than they had before.

By joining in the struggle for racial equality, women of color were encouraged to become part of a movement defined mostly by males, in which liberation of the colored male and restoration of the patriarchal family are the main agendas. Although women of color participated fully in all of the civil rights movements, they are the least to benefit from all of the economic, social and political concessions granted by the state to people of color, and are further marginalized within the male dominated movement.