What would Karl Marx think about the debate?

Source: http://scroll.lib.westfield.ma.edu:2108/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=6&docId=GALE%7CA477203389&docType=Report&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=&prodId=AONE&contentSet=GALE%7CA477203389&searchId=R1&userGroupName=mlin_w_westsc&inPS=true

Karl Marx, while highly controversial, has produced some of the most influential ideas to take hold of mainstream society. He was a revolutionist, and his beliefs were rooted in the idea that a class-less society could exist, where everybody is of equal class to each other. Where would he fall then, on the Gender-Issues battle? Would be be a MRA? A Feminist? Neither, or both?

Lilia D. Monzo argues that Marx would have been a feminist, in her article "Women and Revolution: Marx and the Dialectic." She talks about how Marx wrote, "...a class of oppressors who dispose of the labor of an oppressed class of producers." in reference to the way society had be run. She is inferring that men are the oppressors, and that women are the oppressed class, using the words of Marx. Not only does she imply that Marx would have been a feminist, but she even says that in order for women to understand feminism, they "need to look to Marx and to his dialectical method" in order to understand oppression. The article talks about how Marx seemingly didn't fight for womens rights - and that he spent a small amount of time pushing for the ideals of gender equality. However, in his private research and writings, it is found that he spent a good amount of time learning about the history of oppression towards women. "Marx notes the different ways in which 'man' (human being) treats men and women and argues that our evolution as a species could be measured by the way in which we treat women" - she also points out a piece by Marx, "The Working Day", which is 80 pages long and contains critiques of the enslavement of women and children. It is clear that she believes Marx would have fought for women, and not men, in his time, as women were clearly not treated with the same respect, or given the same privileges that men were. What would Marx think of the social dynamic today?

I do believe that is he could witness the current situation, he would turn his back on mankind, begin to weep, and walk back into his grave. I bet he would hate both movements in their current form - as each one is simply fighting to put itself over the other at this point. He would likely believe that women are no longer oppressed the way they were in his time, and that they are allowed to do all of the things that men normally did. In fact they are encouraged to do so, and even receive additional resources to men in order to do "mens things". I think Marx would denounce modern feminism because women are already allowed to do what men have traditionally done - and I think he would denounce the Mens Movements as well, calling us brutes who are afraid of losing our power as the dominant sex. And this is somewhat true. At the root of modern mens movements, there is some level of fear that women will end up in control of men. You couldn't be mad at a man for feeling this way - it's natural. Who would feel safe giving up power to another demographic, who likely have their own best interests in mid? The problem is, women don't have that luxury. They have never been "in charge" of things and it is questionable today whether they are, or not. In this respect, the power balance in our current time is the most neutral it has ever been, and for this reason, I think Marx would tell us all to be happy where we are at! This is almost ironic, given that Marx was a "revolutionist" in his time!