Capitalism and Gay Identity
Capitalism and Gay Identity is a 1979 essay by John D’Emilio about how capitalism has both created the conditions for gay identity to emerge as well as creating the instability which causes homophobia. It can be read at sites.middlebury.edu. 1 2
The essay makes the argument that gay men and lesbians have not always existed and that they are instead a product of the development of the free-labor capitalist system. With wage labor, capitalism allows people to survive beyond the confines of a heterosexual family. But this also takes away the economic functions which used to tie family members together, weakening the forces that keep people in families. But since capitalism also promotes the idea of the family as a source of emotional security where our need for stable, intimate relationships is satisfied, the family unit is more vulnerable and the LGBTQ community have become the scapegoats for the social instability. 1
The essay then goes on to suggest the following solutions: 1
- Instead of treating children as belonging to parents, give them personal autonomy, particularly in their own sexual expression and choice.
- Instead of calling for a return to the familial structure of the past, we need to dissolve the boundaries which isolate the family and provide more socialized or community-oriented services. For example, instead of the parents being wholly responsible for raising a child, there should be community or worker-controlled day care.
- Create more social structures beyond the nuclear family which provide a sense of belonging, so that the family unit has less significance, so that being in a family is less likely to make or break our emotional security.